Johan Frederik Thaulow was born in Christiania, the son of a wealthy chemist, Harald Conrad Thaulow (1815–1881), and Nicoline ("Nina") Louise Munch (1821–1894). Thaulow was educated at the Academy of Art in Copenhagen in 1870–1872, and from 1873 until 1875 he studied with Hans Gude at the Baden School of Art in Karlsruhe.[2][3][4]
Thaulow was one of the earliest artists to paint in Skagen in the north of Jutland, soon to become famous for its Skagen Painters. He arrived there in 1879 with his friend Christian Krohg, who persuaded him to spend the summer and autumn there. They arrived from Norway in Thaulow's little boat. Thaulow, who had specialized in marine painting, turned to Skagen's favorite subjects, the fishermen and the boats on the shore.[5]
After his stay in Skagen, Thaulow returned to Norway in 1880. He became one of the leading young figures in the Norwegian art scene, together with Christian Krohg and Erik Werenskiold, and he helped establish the first National Art Exhibit (also known as Høstutstillingen or Autumn Exhibit) in 1882. Many of Thaulow's best-known Norwegian scenes are from Åsgårdstrand, which had become an important center for artists and painters dating from the 1880s.[6]
Thaulow moved to France in 1892, living there until his death in 1906. He soon discovered that the cityscapes of Paris did not suit him. His best paintings were made in small towns such as Montreuil-sur-Mer (1892–94), Dieppe and surrounding villages (1894–98), Quimperle in Brittany (1901) and Beaulieu-sur-Dordogne in the Corrèze département (1903). One of his most famous works made after he moved to France was A village street in France.
[7] In Dieppe Thaulow and his wife Alexandra made themselves popular: they were friends with artist Charles Conder, and they met Aubrey Beardsley.[8]
Thaulow was married twice. In 1874 he married Ingeborg Charlotte Gad (1852–1908). The marriage dissolved in 1886. In 1886, he married Alexandra Lasson (1862–1955), the daughter of Carl Lasson (1830–1893), a noted Norwegian attorney. He had three children with his second wife: Harald Thaulow (1887–1971), Ingrid Thaulow (1892–1983) and Christian Lasson Thaulow (1895–1944).[9]
^Bjerke, Øivind (2016-06-15). "Hans Gude – En kunstnerreise" [Hans Gude. An artist’s journey]. Romantik. 5 (1): 136. doi:10.7146/rom.v5i1.26428. Archived from the original on 2023-08-09. Retrieved 2023-08-08. Gude's foremost Norwegian student, Fritz Thaulow, also moved away from Gude, but the two maintained a mutual respect for each other.