Carl Frederik Aagaard

He was the son of a shoemaker. He had his first painting lessons in Odense but, in order to improve his skills, moved to Copenhagen in 1852 and joined his brother , who was a woodcutter. He studied drawing on wood and etching, along with lessons in decorative painting from Georg Hilker. He also took some classes at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts. Soon, he decided to focus on landscape painting and studied with P.C. Skovgaard. As a landscape painter, he had his first exhibit in 1857 and was awarded the . In 1865, he became the first recipient of the for landscape painters with his work depicting an autumn morning at the Jægersborg Dyrehave, which was purchased by the National Gallery of Denmark. During the 1870s, he made two extended trips to Italy to sketch landscapes. == Personal life ==

In 1858, he married Anna Pio (1836–1929); posthumously born daughter of the violinist, Pierre Theodore Pio (1810–1836). In 1874, he was elected a member of the Royal Academy. Five years later, he was appointed Knight of the Order of the Dannebrog and, in 1892, became a professor. His home was designed by the architect, Vilhelm Dahlerup, using stones from the original Royal Danish Theater, which had recently been demolished to make way for a new one. The house was declared a cultural monument in 1977. == References ==