1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Dahl, Johann Christian

DAHL, JOHANN CHRISTIAN (1778–1857), Norwegian landscape painter, was born in Bergen. He formed his style without much tuition, remaining at Bergen till he was twenty-four, when he left for the better field of Copenhagen, and ultimately settled in Dresden in 1818. He is usually included in the German school, although he was thus close on forty years of age when he finally took up his abode in Dresden, where he was quickly received into the Academy and became professor. German landscape-painting was not greatly advanced at that time, and Dahl contributed to improve it. He continued to reside in Dresden, though he travelled into Tirol and in Italy, painting many pictures, one of his best being that of the “Outbreak of Vesuvius, 1820.” He was fond of extraordinary effects, as seen in his “Winter at Munich,” and his “Dresden by Moonlight;” also the “Haven of Copenhagen,” and the “Schloss of Friedrichsburg,” under the same condition. At Dresden may be seen many of his works, notably a large picture called “Norway,” and a “Storm at Sea.” He was received into several academic bodies, and had the orders of Wasa and St Olaf sent him by the king of Norway and Sweden.