Anton Melbye

Daniel Herman Anton Melbye was a Danish painter and photographer who specialized in maritime scenes. He was the brother of painters Vilhelm and Fritz Melbye.

His father was a Royal Customs officer. He had originally planned on a naval career but, because of his myopia, was sent to learn shipbuilding instead. His inclinations for music and art asserted themselves, however, and he left engineering school to learn the guitar.

He also wanted to be a marine painter and attended the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts for a year, in 1838, taking C.W. Eckersberg as his mentor. By 1840, he was already exhibiting some seascapes that attracted the attention of the German art collector, Karl Friedrich von Rumohr. On his recommendation, Melbye accompanied King Christian VIII on his corvette for a voyage through the Baltic and North Seas.

Soon after, he was invited to accompany the King on a voyage to Morocco, where he witnessed the Bombardment of Tangiers. In 1845, he applied to the Royal Academy for a travel scholarship, but was passed over. With the support of the King, he was awarded the money in 1846 and his painting of the Eddystone Lighthouse was purchased for the Royal Collection. It also won the Thorvaldsen Medal. This brought a rush of orders that forced him to postpone his trip.

Text courtesy of Wikipedia, 2023