Leaving Home (Dalecarlian Scene)

Bengt Nordenberg was born 1822 in Jämshög, Blekinge. He is strongly associated with the Düsseldorf school, and he is known for his pictures with motifs taken from the Swedish regions Dalarna, Blekinge and Skåne, but he also depicted the middle- and upper classes way of living, and also churches and altarpieces. He is represented at both the National Museum in Stockholm and at The Gothenburg Museum of Art. Several of his images were reproduced in the journal Lithographic Allehanda, published 1859-65, which contributed to his popularity.

Nordenberg grew up under poor circumstances and was trained as an apprentice to an artist in Sölvesborg. But in 1843 he could realize his desire to come to Stockholm and study at the Art Academy. In the fall of 1851 he went to Düsseldorf where Theodor Hildebrandt and then Adolf Tidemand became his teachers. In particular the latter exerted a decisive influence on Nordenberg´s technology and ideas. He was long one of Tidemand´s assistants in the performance of reproductions of his paintings. In 1856 Nordenberg received a travel grant from the Swedish state and after a year and a half in Paris, where he studied with Thomas Couture, and after short stop in Düsseldorf he went to Rome in 1858. He returned soon to Düsseldorf, where he remained for the rest of his life.