Riis Carstensen, A.C.(1844 -1906)

Biography Full name: Andreas Christian Riis Carstensen. Born on Nov. 11th 1844 in Sennels, Denmark. After studying seascape painting under C. Dahl (the Techn. School), he was admitted to the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts (Copenhagen) in 1864 where he studied until 1866 and again in 1877. He also studied the the École des Beaux-Arts (J.L. Gérôme) in 1875-76. Riis Carstensen was a widely travelled artist starting with a journey to Quebec, USA and the Danish West-Indian Islands during 1869-74. In 1875 he made a journey to Portugal, Spain and Morocco and spent the years 1875-77 in France. In 1879-80 he made a journey (in his own ship) to The Mediterranean, Egypt and Syria. He also made study tours to Greenland (1884 and 1888) and finally he visited Egypt several times in the 1890´s. In recognition of his talent and work, he won the esteemed Neuhausen Prize in 1879. He debuted at the esteemed Charlottenborg Spring Exhibitions (Copenhagen) in 1868 and exhibited there almost continuously during 1875-96. Apart from exhibiting at other prominent national exhibitions, he also exhibited at the World Exhibitions in Paris (1889) and Chicago (1893) and at the Nordische Kunstausstellung (Lübeck) in 1895. Riis Carstensen primarily concentrated on seascape painting, but he was more influenced by Anton Melbyes and C.F. Sörensens romantic manner than by the manner of his teacher C. Dahl. Despite his enthusiasm for the sea, he was also preoccupied by deserts. As mentioned, he was widely travelled and found many of his motifs in the Danish West-Indian Islands over Greenland to Christiansö. In 1893 he made a collection of 11 paintings from Egypt commissioned by the brewer Carl Jacobsen (the founder of the famous Carlsberg Breweries). His works are characterized by a high degree of precision and a very high accuracy in the details, which among other can be seen in his paintings from Greenland. This quality makes his paintings further interesting from a geographical and ethnographic point of view.