Eilif Peterssen

Eilif Peterssen painted portraits and landscapes at the turn of the 19th century in Norway. He first made an impression on the art world while living in Munich in the 1870s with a series of history and religious paintings, but Peterssen would not stick to these genres for long. A prolific traveler, Peterssen visited Italy and France where he was introduced to the en plein air method the French Impressionists came to popularize. Peterssen would go on to draw from a variety of 19th-century painting styles in different moments of his career. Some of his works seem to emulate Impressionism, while others are reminiscent of the muted brown colors of Munich painters, while others still embody symbolism and the works of the Pre-Raphaelites. Peterssen is thought to have influenced Edvard Munch and other Modern masters.