Hans Olaf Halvor Heyerdahl was a Norwegian Realist painter.
Background
He was the son of Halvor Heyerdahl (1825–1900), a prominent engineer In 1859, the family moved to Drammen, where his father took up the joint posts of City Engineer and Fire Chief. He began his education with the intent of following in his father"s footsteps, but soon discovered that he was more attracted to drawing and art
Education
In 1873, he entered the Norwegian National Academy of Craft and Art Industry and studied under Peder C. Thurmann, a landscape artist trained in Dusseldorf.
Career
The following year, he enrolled at the Academy of Fine Arts, Munich, where his professors were Wilhelm von Lindenschmit the Younger and Ludwig von Löfftz, who encouraged him to switch from landscapes to historical painting and portraits. He made his début at the Salon in 1879 with a portrait of the composer Johan Svendsen. While in Paris, he came under the influence of Léon Bonnat and took up painting en plein-air.
After finishing his studies, he returned to Norway and settled in Christiania (Oslo), where he gave private art lessons to support his studio.
His summers were spent painting in Åsgårdstrand, where he inspired Edvard Munch, who was just beginning his career. In addition to his landscapes, he did scenes from Norwegian history and several portraits of notable people, including Frits Thaulow (1885), Knut Hamsun (1893) and Henrik Ibsen (1894).
After 1900, he spent another six years in Paris, where his paintings took on a more melancholy tone.