Private Collection, United Kingdom
Very little is known about the biographical detail of the life of the artist Harald Julius Niels Pryn, except that he was a very accomplished, and apparently self-taught, landscape painter. He was born in Frederiksberg, in West Copenhagen, which was even then an affluent part of the city and an historic summer retreat for the royal family. Pryn lived and worked in the region of Bagsvaerd, Denmark – and many of his paintings are signed with his name and the name of that place. He left behind an astonishingly large and valuable body of work, which has since met with great popularity. His opus is characterised by idyllic snowy scenes such as this one, Alpine Road. However, several interior scenes and summer landscapes have been attributed to him too. Pryn is known to have worked closely with another Danish landscape painter, Olaf Viggo Peter Langer (1860-1942), and was perhaps taught by him.
Although much of Pryn’s life story has been forgotten, his work remains nonetheless sought-after. His paintings continue to fetch high prices at London’s big auction houses; such as Bonham’s, Christie’s and Sotheby’s, as well as all over Northern Europe. This is an excellent opportunity to own a very fine piece of the Danish artist’s oeuvre.
