Hans Andersen Brendekilde was a Danish painter active in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
His actual surname was Andersen, but he took on the name of his home village to avoid being confused with another artist. He originally painted scenes of social realism, showing the struggles of workers and farmers, then moved into religious subjects.
Brendekilde is best known, however, for his bucolic scenes of rural village life. Often, these take the form of landscapes with figures, primarily children and women, walking through woods and fields.
In these, I think of him more as a landscape artist, and I see in his work a kinship with fellow Danish painter Peder Mørk Mønstead.
