This painting "Et Stille Vand i Dyrehaven (Still Water in Dyrehaven)" is the most honoured of all of Zacho's paintings and was awarded the prestigious Thorvaldsen Exhibition Medal in silver in 1884.
Christian Zacho is best remembered for his traditional depictions of idyllic scenes of Danish beech trees. This painting was exhibited at the Danish Royal Academy in 1884, winning the prestigious Thorvaldsen Medal. Named after the famous sculptor Bertel Thorvaldsen, the medal was founded in 1837 and awarded for talented works in the Danish Royal Academy Spring Exhibition in the Charlottenborg Palace. It is the highest distinction in the Danish visual arts. The painting, number 358 in the exhibition, commanded almost double of any other work that Zacho exhibited that year.
Christian Zacho's mother, Anne Marie Mørch Mønsted, was the sister of Peder Mørch Mønsted, grandfather to the well-known Peder Mørk Mønsted who became one of Denmark’s best regarded landscape artists. It is easy to see how Peder Mønsted was influenced by Zacho, and “Still Water in Dyrehaven” became a favourite subject for Mønsted.
The subject "Et Stille Vand i Dyrehaven (Still Water in Dyrehaven)" depicts the pond "Stille Vand" in Dyrehaven. The park, just North of Copenhagen, is a natural park with lush forests, small lakes and wide, open landscapes. Renowned for the over 2,000 free range deer that inhabit the park, it is part of the landscape that was once used for hunting by the Danish King. The park was designed for hunting with hounds, with roads linked by star-shaped trail systems making it easier for hunters to keep track of the dogs. In the center is The Eremitagen, the Royal Hunting Castle, designed by architect Laurids de Thurah in 1736 for King Christian VI. The grounds also are home to the Dyrehavsbakken, a 400 year old amusement which is the world’s oldest operating amusement park. The park also encloses Bollemosen, a peaceful high moor surrounded by a birch tree forest, which has a wide variety of rare plants and berries. In 2015 the park was designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Christian Zacho (Danish 1843-1913)
Still Water in Dyrehaven
oil on canvas, signed and dated lower left "Chr. Zacho 1883"
Exhibited: Charlottenborg 1884 no. 358
Size: 43 x 69 ¾ in (with frame 53 ½ x 80 ¼ in)
J19963
SOLD
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