An atmospheric pair of landscape paintings at contrasting times of the day and year by Nils H Christiansen. The first painting is a winter scene depicting skaters on a frozen lake at sunset next to a house. The second work is a moonlit scene in summer featuring a figure outside a lake house with a village beyond.

Nils or Niels Hans Christiansen was a well-accomplished painter born in Esbjerg in the Jutland peninsula of southwest Denmark on 22 July, 1850. He specialised in winter landscapes and moonlight scenes and was interested in the effects of light, often painting the sunrise and sunsets against his native land.

He first came to England in 1863 for the Royal Wedding of the Prince of Wales and Princess Alexandria. Although he worked mainly in Denmark and Norway, he spent some time in England where he is believed to have exhibited with many of the leading art galleries in London. In addition to exhibiting in England, Christiansen also exhibited in his home country at the Royal Academy of Copenhagen where he became a member.

He seems to have settled in England and on 10 September 1887 he married Alice Dickens at York Square, Stepney. Together the couple lived at 36 Dempsey Street, Mile End with their children. One of their sons, Albert Edward Christiansen (1887-1927) also became an artist. Christiansen’s success brought him royal connections and he was given a Grace and Favour apartment at Windsor by Queen Victoria. By 1901, he had become a British subject and had moved to 15 Queens Road in Plaistow, West Ham where he spent the rest of his life. He died in 1922 at Plaistow, aged 71.

His paintings are always beautifully drawn and with the inclusion of figures give added interest to the viewer. A number of his works can be found in museums and art collections in England including Epping Forest Museum, Warwickshire Museum, Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge.

© Benton Fine Art