Wilhelm Otto Peters

Place: Oslo

Born: 1851

Death: 1935

Biography:

Wilhelm Otto Peters (1851-1935) was a Norwegian painter who participated in the Det Moderne Gennembrud (en) in the painting of the Nordic countries. He is closely associated with the Skagen Painters and is one of the first to have painted the fishermen of Brøndums store. Peters was born in Oslo and studied drawing from 1867 to 1870 with David Arnesen and J.F. Eckersberg (en). He then studied at the Royal Swedish Academy in Stockholm from 1871 to 1873, in Rome with Antonio Piccinni from 1873 to 1876, and completed his studies in 1880 after periods in Munich and Paris. He was educated as a Historicist painter inspired by Lawrence Alma-Tadema, but turned to folklore and exhibited in Denmark. While in Paris in the late 1879s, he was attracted by French Naturalism. When he arrived in Skagen in 1881, he had gained international experience from his travels to Germany, Rome, and Paris and became a contributor to the Modern Breakthrough in Nordic painting. He was one of the first of the Skagen Painters to paint the fishermen in the inn, a theme that was later adopted by Michael Ancher and Krøyer. Peters was successful in having one of his paintings exhibited at Oslo's Høstutstillingen (autumn exhibition) in 1882. In 1885, he became a head teacher at the Norwegian National Academy of Craft and Art Industry, a post he retained until 1923. In addition to his paintings and etchings, he created stained-glass windows including those in St. Olav's Cathedral, Oslo.