The ploughed horses break

Oil on canvas representing the break of the ploughmen and their horses
Monogrammed bottom right M TH and dated 1887.
Exhibited at the universal exhibition in Paris in 1889, under number 158.

Michael Hans Therkildsen (1850-1925).
The son of a farmer, he very soon showed artistic talents which allowed him to enter the Royal academy of Copenhagen Beaux Arts. His real knowledge of the rural world helped him in his work, as his main subject remained the rural world. 
From 1880 he travelled  to France to study, then to Luxemburg where he was inspired by paintings by Constant Troyon or Charles Emile Jacque and in Italy where he discovered luminosity of the sky and the landscapes.

Some of his paintings can be found in Copenhagen (Staten Museum for Kunst, Hirschsprung Museum, Chateau D' Amalienborg).
In 1887, he was rewarded the medal "Thorvalsen" by the Royal academy of Copenhagen, which allowed him to exhibit at the universal exposition of Paris in 1889.

With the frame 155 X 202 cm /  61 X 79 1/2 inches