[2] From 1837 until 1841 he continued his studies at the art academy in Düsseldorf, which at the time enjoyed widespread international recognition.

The painting Gustav Vasa taler til dalalmuen i Mora kirke (1841) was sold to a German museum, but was later returned to Christiania.

His version of rusticity proved highly popular and in 1848 he was commissioned by Oscar I, King of Sweden and Norway, to paint a series of Norwegian peasant life for the royal palace of Oscarshall, near Christiania.

The National Museum of Art, Architecture and Design (Nasjonalgalleriet) in Oslo alone owns more than 100 of his works.

[citation needed] He married in 1845 with his childhood sweetheart, Claudine Marie Bergitte Jæger (1817–1887).

Tidemand was awarded the Royal Norwegian Order of St. Olav (Den Kongelige Norske St. Olavs Orden) in 1849, the French Legion of Honor (Légion d'honneur) in 1855 and the Swedish Order of the Polar Star (Nordstjärneorden) in 1866.