Ragnhild Beichmann

Ragnhild Beichmann was a Norwegian portrait painter born in 1854 and died in 1917. She was a pupil of Knud Bergslien's painting school from 1874 to 1877 and then studied under Carl Gussow in Berlin from 1877 to 1879. The apprenticeship with Gussow had a great influence on Beichmann, and her studies from there show that the realistic portrait was her strength. In 1880, a portrait of a woman was exhibited at Kristiania Kunstforening and was appreciated for its true expression, free from the pursuit of effects. At the Autumn Exhibition in 1883, she showed a solemn and almost veristic portrait of her mother. The self-portrait and portraits of her sister, with whom she lived in Kristiania, are distinguished by their direct, serious style. During the 1870s and 80s, Beichmann executed a number of portraits commissioned by Kristiania's upper class, and in 1883 she executed a portrait of Crown Prince Gustaf. Some simple and skilfully executed still lifes also belong to her small production. Due to failing eyesight and health, she painted little after 1892. Beichmann's work has been exhibited at several art exhibitions, including at the Autumn Exhibition in 1883 and 1887, as well as at the Industrial and Art Exhibition in 1883. She also carved a portrait of Crown Prince Gustaf which is in the Oslo Military Society. Ragnhild Beichmann was the daughter of Sigrid Christine Moe and Peter Sofus Marius Elias Beichmann, a lieutenant general.