Will You Buy My Flowers?

Tornøe, Wenzel Ulrik (1844 - 1907)

Will You Buy My Flowers?

Oil on Canvas: 26 x 17
Catalog# TORW-011

The bright eyes of this small boy selling flowers catches the hearts of the viewers. Standing against a stucco wall, a young flower peddler adorns, although tattered and patched, his best (and mostly likely only) clothing. The buttons strain against his girth.

Tornøe’s palette of rich colors and simple components of the young boy and his weaved basket of purple flowers offers a pleasing, undemanding scene. The shadowing is simple, yet the roundness of the boy offers depth to this two-dimensional piece. The colors of the flowers are subdued, allowing a stark contrast between the olive, burgundy and caramel colors, and that of the plain beige wall.

Artist: Wenzel Ulrik Tornøe (1844-1907)

  • Born September 9, 1844 in Svendborg DK, son of Jens Wenzel Tornøe and Eleonore Jacobine Lacoppidan.
  • Married the artist Karen Elisabeth Blumer July 18th 1876, daughter of Grocer Samuel Blumer and Bolette Marie Abigael Wendelboe.

Education:

  • 1860-1865 - Royal Danish Academy of Art
  • 1871-1873 - Studied in Rome
  • 1878-1879 - Holland, Belgium, Paris and Italy
  • 1886-87 - Studied in Rome

Travels:

  • 1871-73 - Rome
  • 1878-79 - Holland, Belgium, Paris and Northern Italy
  • 1886-87 - Rome

Exhibits:

  • 1865-1997 - Charlottenborg Palace, DK
  • 1882, 1942 - National Art Association Exhibit
  • 1883, 1888 - Nordic Exhibit
  • 1895 - Nordic Art Exhibit in Lubeck
  • 1893 - World Exhibit in Chicago
  • 1901 - Town Hall Exhibit in Copenhagen
  • 1980 - Randers Art Museum Exhibit
  • 1980’s - “in memory of…” National Art Exhibition

Awards:

  • 1864 - Awarded silver medal at the Royal Danish Academy of Art
  • 1902 - Serdin Hansens Prize

*Wenzel Tornøe is perhaps one of the most well known exhibited Charlottenborg Palace artists of that period. He was known for his poignant and anecdotal portraiture and genre pieces. Having studied under Carl H. Bloch (whose is considered the finest religious, genre and historical painter of his time), Tornøe surpassed many his peers in skill, technique and style. His works have sold at many prestigious auction houses around the world, including Sotheby’s, and many other works adorn the walls of private collectors, museums, and European castles.