dk nkf - Nordisk Konservatorforbund Danmark

assortments, for instance from Lefranc and Windsor
& Newton [19].
The painter C.W. Eckersberg (1783-1853), who had
a lasting influence on the following generation of
artists, kept a diary during his entire adult life which
is a source of information about his painting practice.
It contains several references to his suppliers and the
purchase of materials, including canvas. The majority
of this was most likely primed, as he often records
making the underdrawing as the phase directly
following the stretching of the canvas [20]. Only on
two occasions does he specifically mention having a
canvas primed after the purchase. One of these was
for a large altarpiece while the other case was one of
a series of very large paintings for the Christiansborg
Palace [21]. On a separate occasion he applied for
special permission to import canvas free of duty from
Dresden, Germany, which was granted, probably on
the grounds that it was intended for paintings for
the same Royal commission [22]. In this case the
imported canvas was apparently also primed already,
since no further mention of priming is made.
Judging from Eckersberg’s diary entries he used a
variety of suppliers, the number of which suggests
an active trade even in a moderately sized town like
Copenhagen in the early and mid 19 th century [23].
Among the names appearing is the Bing shop as
well as the Køng linen mill and the Meier factory
[24]. The latter being in fact a manufacturer of
oilcloth makes you wonder if Eckersberg actually
tried this (or intended to) as a support for paintings
though he is otherwise not known for experimenting
technically.
The Køng linen mill, established in 1774, had a
competitive advantage in the sense that it could
produce canvas of exceptional width for that time in
Denmark. Founded by the merchant and industrialist
Niels Ryberg, it most likely delivered the large
canvas for his family portrait painted by Jens Juel
in 1796 (Det Rybergske Familiebillede, 253 x 336½
cm, Statens Museum for Kunst) [25]. According
to correspondence, the mill also delivered large
numbers of painting canvases in the late1820s for
the decoration of the rebuilt Christiansborg Palace
[26]. In 1829 it was announced that the mill’s store
was now stocked with painting canvas [27].
In its correspondence with the commission for the
rebuilding of the palace the mill claimed that it
could produce canvas of a higher quality than those
normally imported from abroad [28]. Other evidence
that imported canvas too was available, for instance
from Germany, indicates that there was after all
a market for the foreign products in spite of their
price which in all probability was higher due to the
restrictive customs regulations. After his experience
with the canvas imported for the Christiansborg
paintings, Eckersberg bought the Dresden canvas
on at least two more occasions [29].
Other occasional references in 19 th century written
sources seem to confirm the pattern known from
Eckersberg’s practice, for instance the sales
catalogue after the death of the painter Martinus
Rørbye (1803-1848) which among other painter’s
tools and materials lists primed canvas and stretchers
with canvas [30]. Another source is letters from
painters sporadically mentioning supplies being
bought or ordered [31]. For the later part of the
century surviving correspondence by for instance
Valdemar Kleis, August With and M. Arnbak, as
well as product catalogues from their firms, point to
an active interchange between the suppliers and their
customers about artists’ materials, among these also
stretchers and canvas [32]. All three Copenhagen
firms evidently had a comprehensive selection of
well-known contemporary painters as their clients.
References to supports are actually scarce, but again,
when canvas is mentioned in the correspondence it
is generally understood to be primed [33]. This is
confirmed by the fact that it is highly unusual for
the period to find paintings on canvas primed on the
stretcher (i.e. primed by the artist and not already
commercially primed by the time of purchase).
A possible exception, the painter J.F. Willumsen
(1863-1958) who carried out extensive experiments
with his materials at all levels and with many types
of canvases and homemade grounds, only started
this practice a couple of years beyond the turn of the
century [34].
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