First Day of Autumn

There are no known descriptions or photographs of this painting, but Astrup’s title indicates that it depicts an autumnal landscape.

The painting “First Day of Autumn” was on sale at Astrup’s exhibition at Kunstnerforbundet (artists’ association) in 1911, and it was bought by Carl Konow Angell Petersen (1865–1923) for 500 kroner. That is the same price paid by Conrad Mohr (1849–1926) for the painting By the Open Door (K202) at the same exhibition. By the Open Door measures 87 x 110 cm, and it is reasonable to think that “First Day of Autumn” may have been of an equivalent format and style.

Angell Petersen was the Managing Director of the textile factory Joh. Petersen A/S in Kristiania (Oslo). Petersen and his wife Sofie Margrethe Angell Petersen (1871–1923) both died in 1923. Through a joint will, they established a legacy, and they also made large donations to children’s homes and voluntary associations. They had no children of their own, but they had a foster child, Gudlov Sofie Bredal (1885–1937). It is not known whether the painting was inherited by someone or sold, and its history after 1911 is therefore unknown.