Johan Christian Dahl

Johan Christian Dahl
Portrait of Johan Christian Dahl, by Carl Christian Vogel von Vogelstein, 1823
Born	Johan Christian Claussen Dahl (1788-02-24)24 February 1788 Bergen, Denmark–Norway
Died	14 October 1857(1857-10-14) (aged 69) Dresden, Kingdom of Saxony, German Confederation
Nationality	Norwegian
Known for	Norwegian landscape painting
Movement	Norwegian romantic nationalism, German romanticism
Awards	Order of St. Olav Order of Vasa Order of the Dannebrog

Johan Christian Claussen Dahl (24 February 1788 – 14 October 1857), often known as J. C. Dahl or I. C. Dahl, was a Danish-Norwegian artist who is considered the first great romantic painter in Norway, the founder of the "golden age" of Norwegian painting.^[1] He is often described as "the father of Norwegian landscape painting"^[2] and is regarded as the first Norwegian painter to reach a level of artistic accomplishment comparable to that attained by the greatest European artists of his day. He was also the first to acquire genuine fame and cultural renown abroad.^[3] As one critic has put it, "J.C. Dahl occupies a central position in Norwegian artistic life of the first half of the 19th century.^[4]

Although Dahl spent much of his life outside of Norway, his love for his country is clear in the motifs he chose for his paintings and in his extraordinary efforts on behalf of Norwegian culture generally. He was, for example, a key figure in the founding of the Norwegian National Gallery and of several other major art institutions in Norway, as well as in the preservation of Norwegian stave churches and the restoration of the Nidaros Cathedral in Trondheim and Bergenhus Fortress in Bergen.