Rörby, Martinus

Martinus Christian Wesseltoft Rörby ( d. Martinus Christian Wesseltoft Rørbye ; May 17, 1803, Drammen, Danish Norway - August 29, 1848, Copenhagen) is a Danish artist.

Born in the family of a government official who served in Norway during the period when she was under the authority of Denmark; in 1815, a year after the Danish-Swedish war, during which Norway was annexed to Sweden, the family returned to Denmark. Talent for drawing showed from childhood; In 1819–26 he studied at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, where among his teachers were many famous masters of the so-called Golden Age of Denmark. In 1824, he already exhibited his works at the autumn exhibition in Charlottenborg and subsequently participated in exhibitions to the end of his life, often receiving silver and gold medals. In 1830 he traveled to Norway, and in 1834 he went to Italy on an academic scholarship, visiting the Netherlands and France along the way; lived in Italy until 1837, while in 1835 he traveled to Greece and Constantinople. In August 1839, he married the daughter of a judge, but in the autumn of the same year, due to deteriorating health, he again left for Italy; returned to Denmark in 1841. From 1838 he taught at the Royal Academy and from 1844 he was a professor at her model school, also gave private painting lessons; among his students were several artists who later became famous. In the last years of his life he was seriously ill (suffered from gastric disease), died at the age of 45 years.

Originally painted portraits, landscapes of Zeeland, types of architectural structures and scenes from the city life of Copenhagen. In 1834, he painted the picture “Strandscen från gamla Skagen med ett inkommande oväder”, in which, according to some researchers, was one of the first to use the phenomenon of so-called “Scagen light”. In 1838, he received the first prize at an art exhibition with the painting "En turkisk notarie upprättar ett kontrakt", written in Turkey. Among the most famous paintings of his authorship “southern” subjects are “Österlänningar spelar schack” and “Utsikt över Aten”; from the works on “Copenhagen” motifs - “Parti vid gamla rådhuset” and “Börstrappan”. He also wrote a large number of portraits, including cartoon portraits.