Fritz Melbye (Aug. 24, 1826 - 1869) was a Danish marine painter, like his better-known brothers Vilhelm and Anton Melbye. Unlike them, Fritz spent most of his life abroad - in the Caribbean, South America, Canada and the US. He had his own studio in New York. Late in life he traveled widely in Asia, esp. Japan and China. He set up a new studio in Beijing, but died a few years later in Shanghai.
During the turbulent time after the emancipation of the slaves in the Danish West Indies (now the Virgin Islands) in 1848, Melbye lived in St. Thomas, and painted numerous canvases depicting the harbor scenery and life on the plantations. In 1854 he witnessed the emancipation of the slave population in Venezuela, where he had moved with his student, Camille Pissaro. Melbye seems to not have been interested in the plight of the black population, although some farm laborers can be seen in a few of his canvases.
Instead he presented a rather idyllic life in the West Indies, as this canvas of the port of Charlotte Amalie, seen from the sea side.
Above: Fritz Melbye: View of St. Thomas harbor in Charlotte Amalie, 1851-2 (M/S Museet for Søfart)
