Carl Gustaf Pilo - Success at The Royal Court and Academy

Success At The Royal Court and Academy

In 1747 he was named painter to the royal court under the newly crowned King Frederik V, whose duties also included the supervision and restoration of paintings at the royal residences. After several years development he became fully employed by the court and paintings streamed out of his studio.

In 1748 Pilo was named professor at the Drawing and Painting Academy (Tegne- og Malerakademiet), predecessor to the Royal Danish Academy of Art (Det Kongelige Danske Kunstakademi), along with Marcus Tuscher and Johann Friedrich Gerhard. The Academy was then located in the Post Office (Postamts) building behind the Stock Exchange, and was then managed and supervised by Nicolai Eigtved (also known as Niels Eigtved), architect and royal building master. In late summer 1748 the Academy moved to the floor above the Crown Prince's stables at Christiansborg Palace, where Eigtved had his offices, while the model school continued on Gammelstrand, where Hieronimo Miani, former leader of the Academy, had started the studio. Eigtved, the first Dane to exercise some control in the Academy to this point, became the Academy's first Director in 1751.

Pilo married Charlotte Amélie Dorothée Desmarez (Desmars) on 5 January 1750 at Maltesholm.

Pilo painted a full figure portrait of the king, "Frederik V in Coronation Outfit" ("Frederik V i kroningsdragt") in 1751, which is now in the collection of the Danish National Gallery.

The Academy moved to Charlottenborg, and became dedicated as the Royal Danish Academy of Art on 30 March 1754, after inspiration from the French Académie française. Pilo gave the welcoming speech to King Frederick V, not Eigtved. Eigtved was removed from the Director's position a few days later, and the directorship went to a Frenchman, Jacques Francis Joseph Saly. Pilo became a member of the Academy that same year.

During the early years of the Academy most of the artists and architects who served in leading positions, both managerial and educational, were not Danish. It would be some time before Danes took a leading role in the Academy. Eigtved died two months later on 7 June 1754.

Around 1757 neoclassicism began to replace rococo as the popular style, and his works became more romantic and dramatic with focus on shadow and light effects, and with more attention paid to depicting the models. Another inspiration for his changing style was the possibility to study first-hand the works of Rembrandt and other great Dutch Masters from the 17th century, works that in these years were being collected by Moltke and the royal painting collection. Pilo was also inspired by French painter Louis Tocqué, who visited Denmark 1758-1759.

Pilo was drawing instructor for Crown Prince Christian VII in 1759. Around 1760 he made portraits of A.G. Moltke, his wife, and Anna Margrethe Juel which foreshadowed the arrival of Louise XVI style to Denmark.

He became a member of the Academy of Art in Augsburg 1759, and a member of the Academy of Art in St. Petersburg 1770. He exhibited at Charlottenborg in 1769.

The royal court set a high demand on Pilo’s productivity in the years 1748-1767, having purchased more than 50 portraits of King Frederik V.

Under the absolute monarchy of the times the Academy's fortunes were dependent on both the good will and the whims of the King and his emissaries. Pilo succeeded Jacques Saly in 1771 to the leadership of the Academy, and worked to get the Academy a protectorship under the Crown Prince Frederik VI, who was given an honorary title in 1772.