Herman Siegumfeldt

Herman Carl Siegumfeldt (18 September 1833 - 27 June 1912) was a Danish genre and landscape painter.

Biography Siegumfeldt was born at Haregabsgaarden in the parish of Esbønderup in North Zealand, Denmark. He was the son of Heinrich Anton Siegumfeldt, a farmer, and Maren Cathrine Schou.

At the age of eleven, he was admitted to the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts. Later, he studied with Niels Simonsen while taking practical courses in handicrafts. He won a small silver medal at the age of seventeen, but his financial situation was precarious, so he had to devote himself to crafts rather than continue his art studies.

By the winter of 1854–55, he had saved enough to give all his time to painting and was able to make a sale to the Kunstforeningen. The following year, they acquired several more works. His simple, naturally composed works soon attracted a large audience. From 1857 to 1860, he concentrated on painting landscapes.

During a travel, his right thumb became inflamed and had to be amputated. He returned home and, following a long period of idleness, decided to give up art. The resulting depression led him to enter a mental hospital.