FRANTS DIDERIK BØ

(1820 - 1891)

Became apprenticed to master painter Momsen in his home town of Bergen. He later studied in Copenhagen, and became a student of landscape painter Christen Købke. In 1849, he moved to Paris, where he studied for the next eight years under the flower painters Theude Grønland and Saint Jean.

The year before, 1848, he embarked on journeys to the Netherlands and Belgium to study art, and later visited art centres such as Düsseldorf, Dresden and Berlin.

He had painted his first still life painting as an apprentice, and went on to specialise in this style. In 1851, he painted "A Bunch of Grapes" which was bought by the French government. The following year, his painting "Pieces of Fruit" won a "Mention Honorable" and was bought by the National Gallery.

In 1858 - 1861 and 1863-1864, he was resident in Nordland, where the scenery and birdlife in particular influenced his choice of subjects. He married Hanna Maria Arnesen, a teacher from Lofoten, in 1864. The same year, the newly-weds moved to Bergen where Bøe lived for the rest of his life.