Sigurd Wandel


Sigurd Wandel was a Danish painter who became director of the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts. He was the nephew of Carl Frederick Wandel.

Biography

Born in the Frederiksberg district of Copenhagen, he was a student of painting both with Kristian Zahrtmann and at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts from 1895 to 1904. He also travelled with Zahrtmann to Italy in 1896 before spending a year at the Dresden Academy of Fine Arts. Following closely in Zahrtmann's footsteps, at the beginning of the 20th century he painted a number of large groups of figures and interiors, mainly consisting of his artist friends and members of his family. His Figurgruppe, selvportræt med familien, now in the Hirschsprung Collection, earned him the Academy's Medal of the Year in 1908. He also produced a number of notable landscapes.
In 1920, he was selected to serve as professor at the Royal Danish Academy but this led to a strike by the students who found him too traditional. He nevertheless became a professor in 1920 and the director of the Academy from 1940 to 1043.

Awards

In 1910, Wandel was awarded the Eckersberg Medal.

Literature