Knud Andreassen Baade

Knud Andreassen Baade, celebrated as måneskinsmaleren (“the moonlight painter”), was one of the leading Norwegian Romantics of the nineteenth century. Born in Rogaland in 1808, Baade studied in Copenhagen under C.W. Eckersberg before turning decisively to landscape painting under the influence of Johan Christian Dahl in Dresden. Dahl’s naturalistic precision, combined with the poetic mysticism of Caspar David Friedrich, left a lasting mark on Baade’s art.

Evening in Dresden (1846) belongs to the vital period when Baade was part of the Nordic circle in Dresden, alongside Thomas Fearnley and Peder Balke. Like Dahl, Baade rooted his landscapes in careful observation of light and weather; like Friedrich, he infused them with meditative stillness. The result was a distinctive personal idiom — atmospheric nocturnes and twilight scenes that earned him international acclaim.

This intimate view of the Elbe at sunset recalls his Dresden at Sunset (1838, Nationalmuseum Stockholm), sharing the same refined technique of oil on paper mounted to board. The city’s skyline, glowing in the afterlight, reflects Baade’s ability to fuse topographical accuracy with lyrical mood.

From 1845 Baade lived in Munich, where he became a fixture of the Kunstverein and exhibited widely. His works entered royal and aristocratic collections, notably Prince Luitpold’s. Today his paintings are held by the National Museum in Oslo and the Nationalmuseum in Stockholm.