1856 DALSGAARD PAINTING: THE DANISH MORMON MISSIONARY Analysis by Richard A. Smith
March 1997
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At the LDS Museum of History and Art there is a large framed photograph of this
painting. The original hangs in the Danish National Art Museum at Copenhagen. Another framed
photograph of this painting is on display at the Missionary Training Center in Provo. The painter,
Christen Dalsgaard, was born 30 October 1824 at Skive, Denmark, and died 11 February 1907,
almost exactly contemporary with Jens Christian Falk Outzen. Dalsgaard was known as one of
the finest painters of Danish folklore - especially of country life. In his best works he depicted
serious actions.
Near the 100th anniversary of the 1856 painting, a one-page article by Marie F. Felt was
printed in The Instructor, together with an 11x17 reproduction. It outlined early proselyting work
in Denmark begun in 1850 by Erastus Snow, Peter Hansen and George P. Dykes. The first
baptisms were on 14 June and a small branch was organized in Copenhagen 15 September 1850.
The missionaries were subjected to considerable mobbings and persecutions, but the work
moved forward and was gradually extended into other areas.
Elder Erastus Snow returned to America in 1852, leaving the organized Mission with
others. In 1856 there were approximately 1,000 in attendance at a conference at Copenhagen at
which Elder Ezra T. Benson was present as visiting General Authority. Great was the harvest of
souls in Denmark, despite much bigotry. The persecutions continued until at least 1870, when
the Jens Outzen family immigrated to America.
It was the spirit of controversy that inspired the artist to do this painting. His
interpretation of the Elder's preaching in a very detailed setting inspires confidence that the
persons and the place depicted were real, not just invented. This carpenter shop out in the
countryside was typical of Dalsqaard's work, not many of his works on issues of the day being
done at his studio in Copenhagen. Accordingly, the carpenter shop of Jens Christian Falk Outzen
in Randers immediately comes to mind as possibly the one depicted. Doubtless there were
others, but considering many factors that fit the painting, the possibility is compelling.
Leaves shown on the foliage outside suggest that the season was summer. However, coats and
warm clothing shift the notion in the direction of spring. It is also very possible that on-site
sketch work was done in the fall of 1855, completed during 1856 in the painter's studio. Either
time frame fits the Outzen case.
Careful observation of the floor shows that is was of planed wood planks, fitted snugly
and then was sanded smooth. Lumber in Denmark for house construction was probably from
local forests, plus timber shipped across the North Sea from Norway. Planks and boards were
produced by laborious hand sawing. A carpenter then needed very strong muscles in addition to
practiced skill for his trade. Jens' military record indicated that he was strong.
Left to right identification of some items in the painting:
Top: Three planes made from carved blocks of wood, one being rounded for work inside
of curved surfaces; On the wall, a very large hand-pulled draw-plane above two large rasps; In
1856 DALSGAARD PAINTING: THE DANISH MORMON MISSIONARY Analysis by Richard A. Smith
March 1997
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the ceiling, a timber saw with teeth of alternate sizes; On a shelf, two travel bags, a large basket,
a bucket, and a cast iron pot.
Table Level: A wood ladder with four well-worn rungs leans against the wall; The thick,
over-hanging top of the work table has a screw-vise at the right corner to clamp boards in place
for carving or whatever; On the table is a long plane made from a carved wood block, and a
small mallet (for which very essential wood chisels must have been there but hidden behind the
persons); A decanter and glass, plus a mug, probably for tea; On the wall in the adjoining house
hangs a carved-wood framed mirror, without doubt from the carpenter's own workmanship.
Floor Level: Missionary's pack and his cap; Carpenter's wood jack stand, with the
missionary's left foot on it; A very large wood-block mallet with handle about 4-feet in length
(and it is not a leg of the table as one might think at first); Some wood shavings and a sawn
board remnant on the floor; The villager's black stove-pipe hat, with a tract inside; A round wood
laundry tub with barrel hoops; A log from a tree, approximately 16" diameter and 3' long; A
wood block work bench, (the block is about 8"x10" and some three-feet long).
Persons depicted in the painting were briefly analyzed by Marie F. Felt who wrote that
"there is something intriguing about the wandering Mormon missionary." Since he was identified
by the painter as Danish, he was probably an early convert preaching in his own land. However,
he could have been an earlier emigrant to America or to England, converted there, and then sent
to his home land to preach. The zeal of his preaching out of (no doubt) the Book of Mormon is
caught in his earnest expression. The cap and pack suggest that he was widely seeking available
opportunities.
Sister Felt noted the captivated interest of the elderly countryman with the cane, dressed
in formal attire of the time. She observes his wife, also with a cane, in her Sunday best (but
perhaps either sleepy or bored). Sister Felt had access to the catalog entitled "Among the Best-
Known of Danish Art" which had an account of this painting and of the artist. She referred to
"the grandmother in the other room taking care of the baby;" to the curious neighbor "as she
peers through the window;" and to "the young cabinetmaker and his father," alert with interest.
The painting gives a feeling like a snap-shot photo - of an instantaneous glimpse of life at
that home, plus the folks living there, and some neighbors. A lad is visible at distance through
the window, within a rather large enclosure, bounded by a hedge. The girl peering inside conveys
a feeling that these folks were trusted and comfortable with their neighbors. The seated couple
seems to be present as guests for the preaching, perhaps invited for this event by the missionary,
and welcomed by the carpenter.
At the time of his baptism in the spring of 1856, cabinet maker/carpenter Jens Christian
Falk Outzen was 31, with dark hair and strength. He could have been the very central person in
this painting, reading the tract and wearing his work apron. Martha was 26, slender, with white
skin and two babies. She could have been the interested, barefooted young woman by a door,
such as did actually lead into her house from her husband's carpenter shop. The young woman
1856 DALSGAARD PAINTING: THE DANISH MORMON MISSIONARY Analysis by Richard A. Smith
March 1997
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depicted appears younger than 26, but the painter may be allowed youthful latitude. Photos of
Jens and Martha in later years bear similarities to the faces in these paintings.
In 1856, Martha's father Christen Christensen was 64, a master cabinetmaker himself. As
a widower he visited often at Martha's home from his own place nearby, and at some later point
would dwell with the Outzen family. He had helped Jens with the construction of a comfortable
two-story house as his legacy gift to Martha. Along with Jens, Christen Christensen was also an
accomplished violinist. He could certainly have been that older man depicted in the painting,
standing beside the carpenter, with an intensive evaluation of the preaching young missionary.
The father of Jens Outzen died while Jens was very young, just as the mother of Martha
had died while Martha was nearing 14. So where was Jens' mother, Anne Marie Christensen
Outzen? In 1856 she was 59 and probably healthy, as she lived to be over 80. She could have
been "the grandmother in the next room taking care of the baby" that Marie F. Felt evidently
found reference to in the catalog describing this painting and painter.
What of the baby? Augusta was the oldest child of Jens and Martha. Years later she
wrote, "Father and mother were some of the very first to join the Latter-day Saints church in
Randers ... and they were faithful and true to their religion ... They only had two children at that
time, my brother Henry and myself."
Lars Henrik Outzen was born 6 July 1855. He was nine months when his parents were
baptized. The pose of the grandma in the painting is logically in the care of an infant on a bed.
While this is not shown, it is clear she was not cooking, or ironing, or sewing, or even making
the bed. If in fact the grandmother was caring for a baby, it certainly could have been Henry
Outzen.
Augusta, who was born 14 January 1854, was twenty-seven months at the baptism of
Jens and Martha. She could certainly have been the cream-complexioned, blue-eyed, blonde
baby girl peering out at the missionary in the painting, from under the carpenter's table. If the
child of the painting appears younger than 27 months, consider the possibility that she was
sketched before winter snows set in, during the fall of 1855. The face in the painting fits the
remembered image of Augusta Outzen Smith.