Frantz Landt (Danish 1885-1976)
Danish Barquentine Being Towed in Copenhagen Harbour
oil on canvas, signed and dated lower left "Fr. Landt 1942"
Provenance: Christensen Collection, Vancouver
Size: 17 3/4 h x 21 1/4 w in (with frame 21 1/2 x 25 3/4 in)
J21133
Frants Georg Carl Landt was a Danish sailor, maritime pilot and painter. Born in 1885 to a fisherman and the daughter of a navigation teacher, Frants grew up on the sea. He attended Bogø Navigation school and obtained his mate’s certification in 1910, and from then regularly joined an expedition to Greenland.
By his own account, Landt was an artist from a young age, drawing around his hometown of Nysted as early as 5 or 6. He began actively drawing ships in 1912 at the encouragement of an acquaintance who was an English draftsman. He soon moved into oil painting, but it was not until 1930 that his paintings began to sell well. In 1932 he had his first exhibition, and from 1936 exhibited 47 paintings of shipping scenes at the Royal Academy in Copenhagen, including modern and historical interpretations. In 1936 he was selected as the marine painter to accompany King Christian X on his journey to Iceland and the Faroe islands. Again in 1952 he joined the Royal Yacht Danneborg, accompanying King Frederik IX on his voyage to Greenland and the North Sea. His reputation cemented, Landt continued to paint mostly by commission until his death in 1975.