The Historic
Danes Hall of Waupaca
Where History and Hospitality Meet
Cows in the Edge of the Woods
Thorvald Simon Niss (b. 1842 - d. 1905)
Born in Assens, he was the son of Niels Frederik Niss, a house painter, and his wife Barbara Kirstine. When he was 18, he became a painter's apprentice in Copenhagen where he tried to develop his artistic talents in the evenings. From 1861, he attended evening school at the Royal Danish Academy and from 1863 worked as a decorator at the Royal Copenhagen porcelain factory. In the late 1870s, he came into contact with Otto Bache who invited him to work in his studio where he became acquainted with the latest trends in French painting, impressionism.
By the beginning of the 1880s, he had become a modern landscape artist, comparable to Christian Zacho and Godfred Christensen.
The broad strokes and strong colours he applied to his autumn and winter landscapes brought him wide recognition. In 1887, he visited Skagen where he became a member of artists' colony known as the Skagen Painters. He is one of the artist featured in the P.S. Kroyer's painting Hip Hip Hurrah.
His landscape scenes seem to draw your attention into paths where often there are wildlife or farm animals as seen in several paintings at Danes Hall.
