🗿Stefan Abel Sinding (Sinding, Stephan., 1846-1922) - Norwegian and Danish sculptor.

 🗿Stefan Abel Sinding (Sinding, Stephan., 1846-1922) - Norwegian and Danish sculptor.
Some of Sinding's sculptures are considered realism, but many believe that they belong more to the symbolism style.
Born in Trondheim, Norway, the son of a mining engineer. Brother of Christian and Otto Sinding.
Began studying law in Christiania (now Oslo), but became interested in art. Took drawing and modeling lessons at the Royal Drawing School in Christiania.
Studied in 1871-1873 in Berlin with the sculptor Albert Wolff, in 1874-1875 - in Paris and felt the influence of the latest realistic trends in French sculpture, especially Auguste Rodin and Paul Dubois.
Sinding's first major work was The Slave (1878), which attracted attention at the World Exhibition in Paris that same year.
He made his breakthrough with The Mother of a Barbarian Warrior Carrying Her Son's Body Out of Battle, created during a stay in Rome in 1880-83 (National Gallery Oslo).
These sculptures can be seen as a reaction to the neoclassical tradition of Bertel Thorvaldsen (1770-1844), who still dominated Scandinavian sculpture. In their realistic execution and dramatic composition, they violate the harmonious ideals of classicism. Also in the motif, the artist ignored classicism's preference for antique objects and instead depicted figures from the Nordic-Germanic past.
Sinding did not receive the recognition he deserved from the Norwegian public, as his style was considered too modern. The sculptor moved to Copenhagen, Denmark in 1883.
He lived and worked mostly in Denmark, and became a Danish citizen in 1890. He was considered a pioneer in realistic sculpture in Denmark. He created several significant monuments for Norway, including the monuments to Henrik Ibsen and Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson in front of the National Theatre in Oslo (1899) and the monument to Ole Bull in Bergen (1901).
Sinding created a number of sculptures, including "The Captive Mother" (1884), which won him the Grand Prix at the World Exhibition in Paris (1889), "Man and Woman" (1889) and "Young Woman at Her Husband's Body" (1892). "Man and Woman" is often considered the first erotic image in Norwegian art.
In 1885, in Frederiksberg, he married the actress Anna Betsonitsch (1859-1936). From 1897, he was a professor at the Academy of Fine Arts in Copenhagen.
In 1910, he settled in Paris, where he lived and worked until his death. The military actions of World War I had a profound effect on him, and he executed several public memorials to the fallen in both France and Denmark, including "L`Offrande" (1918) in the Sorbonne Church in Paris. Works: "Wayland the Blacksmith" in Stockholm (1873), "Valhalla" (frieze, length 19 m, Copenhagen, 1886-1887 and 1904), "Two Angels with Altarpieces" (1891), "Pediment Group with a Statue of Electra of the Great North" in Copenhagen (1893), "Mother Earth" (1900), "Adoration I" (1910), "Joy of Life" (1913), self-portrait (1915), "Victorious Spring" (1919), etc.
The sculptor died at the age of 75 in Paris. Sinding is the author of an autobiography entitled "A Sculptor's Life" ("En Billedhuggers Liv", 1921).
The sculptures are in the Carlsberg Glyptotek Museum in Copenhagen.

Sources: artdic; Pinterest; unc.ua; antik-forum; sculpture.forumactif.com; tg-m; tuttartpitturasculturapoesiamusica; Flickr.