Education
He attended the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts from 1831 to 1837 where he was one of the pupils of Christoffer Wilhelm Eckersberg, known as the father of the Golden Age of Danish Painting.
He attended the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts from 1831 to 1837 where he was one of the pupils of Christoffer Wilhelm Eckersberg, known as the father of the Golden Age of Danish Painting.
One of the last students of Christoffer Wilhelm Eckersberg, who was known as the father of the Golden Age of Danish Painting, Gertner belonged to the tail end of the Golden Age, a period during which Danish art moved towards a more realistic style, relying on inspiration both from French Realism and emerging photographic techniques. Gertner was born to a craftsman at the Holmen naval base. Eckersberg taught him a naturalistic approach to painting, but Gertner went much further with inspiration from French art and the emerging techniques of photography.
Others, such as the influential art historian and critic Niels Lauritz Høyen, who opposed any foreign influence on Danish painting, disapproved of his style, preferring more sincere and sensitive portrayals.
He was a professor at the Academy from 1858. Nivaagaard Painting Collection, Johan Vilhelm Gertner, 2 September – 18 November 2001.