Background
Knud Frederik Vilhelm Hannibal Melbye was born on 14 May 1824 in Elsinore, Denmark.
Knud Frederik Vilhelm Hannibal Melbye was born on 14 May 1824 in Elsinore, Denmark.
Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts.
He worked in London from 1853 to 1866 and, over the course of his career, painted seascapes, coastal and harbor scenes, sailing vessels and topographical subjects in many parts of Europe, especially in the Mediterranean region. He also took private classes in perspective drawing with Carl Dahl. In 1847, he went on his first journey, to Iceland aboard the corvette Valkyrien.
In 1848, he became one of the first artists to paint in Skagen.
The same year he traveled to Paris by way of Düsseldorf. In Paris he studied with Théodore Gudin (1802–1880) before returning to Denmark in 1849.
From 1853 to 1866, he lived in London and it was here he changed his name from Vilhelm to Wilhelm. He was appointed Professor at the academy in Copenhagen in 1880 but died in 1882 in Roskilde.
He is interred at Assistens Cemetery in Copenhagen.