Valdemar Schønheyder Møller

Danish painter Valdemar Schønheyder Møller attended the Academy of Fine Art in Copenhagen 1883-84, and in 1886 he was taught by P.S. Krøyer in his alternative art academy. He first came to Skagen in the summer of 1891, then in August 1892 and for the last time in June 1893, a visit that extended until January 1894. According to the painter Michael Ancher, he found his calling during his last visit, that being to paint the sun and the yellow, red and violet shades of colour surrounding the disc of the sun.
In order to paint the sunlight in this way, Schønheyder Møller had to stare straight into the sun several times a day, and in 1901 he stopped painting because this systematic staring had destroyed his vision.
Anna Ancher was very taken by Schønheyder Møller’s paintings, and the portrait is the only one she painted for the portrait frieze in the Brøndum's dining room.