Peter Alfred Schou was a visual artist born in 1844 in Copenhagen. He was interested in art from a young age, yet despite his love of painting, he chose to attend trade school, following his father into the family business. He would spend much of his life in Hamburg, where he moved in 1865 to supervise his business affairs. While here he traveled extensively throughout Germany and Scandinavia, and subsequently fell in love and married Felicia Griffé, a French woman he met in Stockholm.

     The happy years of Schou’s youth came to an end in 1867 when his brother, the painter Ludvig Abelin Schou (1838−1867), died from cholera at age 29. A second blow arrived two years later, when his wife also died prematurely. It was likely those losses that spurred Schou’s decision to finally pursue his long-standing passion for painting.

     He studied at the Art Academy in Dresden from 1873−1874, and in 1875 in Paris as a student of Théobold Chartran, and with Léon Bonnat from 1879−1880. From 1882−1898 Schou lived in Hamburg under very modest circumstances. He held many exhibitions, but few in Denmark. They included the Salon of Fine Arts in Paris in 1880, the Art Museum in Hamburg from 1894−1898, Copenhagen City Hall in 1901, Charleville in 1902, London in 1907, Aarhus in 1909, Munich in 1909, Brighton in 1912, Malmö in 1914, and Stockholm in 1919.

     Despite his lack of success in Denmark, in 1902 he held his first exhibition and he continued to exhibit frequently there, as well as in other European countries including England and Sweden.

     His artistic language came to rest on realism grounds, and throughout his practice, he held himself to the traditional, thorough execution of individual studies and sketches which resulted in balanced and harmonious compositions. His color palette was limited to gray tones with a few dusty green and gold accents. His own melancholy and introspective nature naturally reflected in his art, which often dealt with the fate of heavy and serious themes.

     The lack of recognition throughout most of his lifetime was undoubtedly a large part of his many years of exile, making him virtually unknown in Denmark. Only late in life did he receive any accolades including winning the Eckersberg Medal twice, in 1908 and 1912. In 1911 he was awarded Det Anckerske Legat, a grant given to outstanding artists, composers and writers to fund travel abroad.

     The artist is represented in these public institutions:

• Statens Museum for Kunst (National Gallery of Denmark)

• The Nationalmuseum in Stockholm

• Bornholms Kunstmuseum

• Fuglsang Kunstmuseum

• KUNSTEN Museum of Modern Art Aalborg

• Faaborg Museum

• Museum Sønderjylland

• Randers Kunstmuseum

• Fyns Kunstmuseum (Odense Bys Museer)

• Akademiraadet (The Royal Academy of Fine Arts)