Danish artist Axel Schovelin showed great promise as a landscape painter from an early age. He enrolled in the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts when he was twelve. It was here he began to exhibit and establish himself as an artist. His career bloomed and Schovelin received grants from the Academy to travel abroad in Germany and France to cultivate his craft. In 1867 he was commissioned by King Christian IX to paint the castle ruins in Heidelberg, Germany.

Painting predominantly in oils, Schovelin was loyal to the tradition of Danish artists painting in the nineteenth century. During what was known as the Golden Age of Danish Painting, artists produced works celebrating Denmark’s natural beauty. This blend of romanticism and realism is evident in Schovelin’s work. Praised for his use of colour and composition, Schovelin’s scenes of the countryside around Copenhagen are rich and resplendent. Despite his travels, it was to these scenes he would return time and again to paint.

1827

Born in Copenhagen, Denmark.

1839

Enrolled in the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts at the age of twelve.

1846

Became a student of the Model School of the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts.

1848

Exhibited landscape paintings for the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts at Kunsthal Charlottenborg.

1851

Married Oline Petrine Moos.

1857-1858

Received the Academy’s Travel Grant.

1860

Birth of son, Julius Schovelin. He would later become an economist and politician.

1866-1867

Commissioned by King Christian IX of Denmark to paint ‘The Castle Ruins at Heidelberg’.

1893

Died in Copenhagen, Denmark.