David Jacobsen 19th century artist | Life in the Realm of Fantasy

Title: Selling Christmas Trees

Artist: David Jacobsen

Date: 2 January 1853

Medium: oils on canvas

What I love about this painting:

This painting was done early in Jacobsen’s career when he was still painting in the traditional style that he was taught at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts. This scene shows us a time of year when woodcutters can count on a few extra coins to carry them through the winter. In addition to their regular work of cutting firewood, their families are bringing fresh-cut evergreens to the market, and they are quickly selling out.

There are many stories in this painting. The town square is decorated for the season with wreaths and a prominently displayed Nativity Scene. The market is busy, noisy, and filled with traders and shoppers. Some shoppers rest beside the frozen fountain, while others bargain for the best deals.

Who has the coins for a fine Christmas dinner, and who will go home empty-handed, unable to afford a family feast?

A pair of children, brother and sister, haul a small tree home, accompanied by the family dog. They will decorate it, and if they are fortunate, the dog will respect the tree and go out of its way to avoid knocking it over.

About the Artist:

David Jacob Jacobsen was a Danish 19th-century painter who was born in 1821 and died in 1871.[1] Jacobsen was the son of Jewish parents, Juda Jacobsen and Frederikke Jacobson. [2]

He was accepted into the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts in 1834 and began his education as a sculptor, studying under Herman Wilhelm Bissen. He switched to painting, preferring outdoor scenes.

His friendship with French artists like Camille Pissarro, with whom he shared a studio for a while, influenced Jacobsen’s art. Jacobsen was like many other Danish artists who traveled abroad. His choice of subject was not confined solely to the scenes of Danish life and landscape promoted by Danish critics such as NL Høyen. Despite Jacobsen’s efforts and his close friendships with the impressionists, he was unable to make a name for himself abroad.

Jacobsen’s work was exhibited at the Charlottenborg Spring Exhibition from 1849 until his death. He suffered from deep depression, exacerbated by the fact his work didn’t sell as well as he hoped. He died by suicide in 1871 during a stay in Florence and was buried there. [1]