Ferdinand Fagerlin

Surprize, 1888

Ferdinand Julius Fagerlin (5 February 1825 - 19 March 1907) was a Swedish-German genre painter.

Biography

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Born in Stockholm, Fagerlin first apprenticed as a shipbuilder (1842–1843) before attending the Royal Swedish Academy of Arts (1845–1847). He joined the army (1850–1854) and practiced painting, particularly portraits. From 1854 on he dedicated himself completely to painting and with the support of his former teachers studied at the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf, with Carl Ferdinand Sohn und Friedrich Wilhelm von Schadow (1854–1855). He spent time in Paris (1856-1858), where he worked in the shop of Thomas Couture.

On his return to Düsseldorf he settled as a painter and married Alice Windgassen, sister in law of painter Henry Ritter, whose shop he inherited after the latter's death (1853). From 1862 to 1902 he was a member of Malkasten, the Düsseldorf art society. The Swedish painter Axel Kulle was his student from 1875 to 1880.

After 1863 he traveled frequently to the Netherlands, and the imagery he acquired there, particularly of the Dutch coast and the life of its sailors and inhabitants became formative in his genre painting. In 1867 he showed Der Heiratsantrag and Die Eifersucht at the International Exposition in Paris. He died six weeks after his 82nd birthday, in Düsseldorf.

Notable works

• Die angehenden Raucher (Nationalmuseum Stockholm),
• Die Eifersucht (Nationalmuseum Stockholm),
• Die Liebeserklärung,
• Der Heiratsantrag,
• Die Krankenstube,
• Der verschmähte Freier,
• Die Genesende (Häusliche Andacht), 1867 (Nationalmuseum Stockholm)

Selected works

• 
  Ferdinand Fagerlin, The desperate suitor
• 
  Kortspelande gossar - Boys playing card
• 
  Önskandes att det var hon - Wishing I were her.
• 
  "The Mocked Bachelor"

Bibliography

• Axel Gauffin: Ferdinand Fagerlin (1825-1907). Norstedt, Stockholm 1910.
• Wend von Kalnein: Die Düsseldorfer Malerschule. Philipp von Zabern, Mainz 1979, ISBN 3-8053-0409-9, p. 307.