Erik Bodom was born in
Vestby in
Akershus,
Norway. He was a pupil at the
Oslo Cathedral School, but shortly left school to educate himself as a painter. He attended the Royal Drawing School, studying under
Johannes Flintoe during 1847. He was a student of
Hans Gude during 1848. In 1850, he traveled to Düsseldorf, where he made rapid progress. In 1852, he sold a landscape painting
Aus dem Bondhusthal (
From the Bondhusdalen), to Bridgewater Gallery in London. The following year, he became an honorary member of the Royal Academy in
Amsterdam. Bodom developed a distinctly romanticized form of landscape painting. He painted in a style similar to that associated with
August Cappelen, who was noted for his melancholic and romantic landscape paintings. Bodom often featured scenes from the
coniferous forests of
Eastern Norway. The composition of such images frequently featured landscapes of forested hills and quiet ponds, often with a bewitching atmosphere using strong contrasts between light and dark. In 1862, Bodom established a permanent residence in
Germany, That same year he visited Norway for the last time. He died in Düsseldorf. The
National Museum of Art, Architecture and Design is the owner of several pieces of his art including
Fra Nordmarken (1857),
Havneparti (1865), and
Kystparti med bauta og vrak (1878). ==Gallery==