#vilhelm melbye

[o-link]

Nordenvind, by Vilhelm Melbye (1824 - 1882)

[ltwilliammowett]

Ships (details) by Vilhelm Melbye (Brother of Anton Melbye) (1824- 1882)

[marryat92]

We found, to our surprise, that this vessel, with the three others, one of which was taken by another of our boats, were from Lima. They were single-masted, about thirty tons burthen, twelve men each, and were laden with copper, hides, wax, and cochineal, and had been out five months. They were bound to Valentia, from which they were only one day’s sail when we intercepted them. Such is the fortune of war! This gallant man, after a voyage of incredible labour and difficulty, would in a few hours have embraced his family, and gladdened their hearts with the produce of honest industry and successful enterprise; when, in a moment, all their hopes were blasted by our legal murder and robbery; and our prize-money came to our pockets with the tears, if not the curses, of the widow and the orphan!

— Frederick Marryat, The Naval Officer

A Spanish xebec and other commercial craft in the Mediterranean off Gibraltar at sunset, Vilhelm Melbye (1824-1882)

[i12bent]

Vilhelm Melbye (May 14, 1824 - 1882) was a Danish marine and landscape painter. He was one of three brothers who all were successful marine painters, and Anton Melbye was Vilhelm's primary teacher, although he did attend classes at the Academy.

Anton came to London already as a teen and preferred being abroad. After completing his training in Copenhagen, he studied for a year in Düsseldorf and Paris and then settled with commercial success in London. In 1862 he finally returned to Copenhagen and eventually became a professor at the Academy shortly before his death...

Above: Boats on the Lake, Scottish Highlands (Loch Lomond), 1856 - oil on canvas (Privately owned)

[womblegrinch]

Vilhelm Melbye (1824-1882) - Shipwreck off the rocky coast

Oil on canvas. Painted in 1858.

40.6 x 62.6 inches, 103 x 159 cm. Estimate: SEK 150,000-200,000.

Failed to sell Uppsala Auctions, Uppsala, Sweden, 13 June 2019.

[marryat92]

“Luff now, all you can, quarter-master,” cried the captain. “Send the men aft directly. My lads, there is no time for words — I am going to club-haul the ship, for there is no room to wear. The only chance you have of safety is to be cool, watch my eye, and execute my orders with precision.”

— Frederick Marryat, Peter Simple

A frigate clawing off a rocky coast, by Vilhelm Melbye, 1858.

[i12bent]

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)

[icecreamwithjackdaniels]

Vilhelm Melbye (Danish, 1824–1882), "A Sailing Ship in Rough Weather Off a Rocky Coast" (detail), 1872