Heinrich August Georg Schiøtt (17 December 1823 – 25 June 1895) was a Danish portrait painter.^[1][2]

August Schiøtt was born in Helsingør, Denmark. He was the son of Heinrich Erpecum Schiøtt and Anna Sophie Marie Fleron. His father was a customs official. After his confirmation, he was sent to school in Copenhagen where he later entered the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts and had an undistinguished academic record. For a short time, he was a private student of Christoffer Wilhelm Eckersberg. His first portrait (of a child) was created in 1844, two years before his graduation. After that, he painted six to eight portraits every year.^[3][4]

Altogether, he presented over 150 portraits at the Charlottenborg Spring Exhibition, including several of the Royal Family: Caroline Amalie of Augustenburg (three times), Prince Ferdinand, Princess Caroline and Prince (later King) Christian. In addition to these portraits, his most notable include those of Baron Carl Frederik Blixen-Finecke, who was the grandfather-in-law of Karen Blixen, General Gerhard Christoph von Krogh, and the history painter J.L. Lund.^[5][6]

He was married in 1850, to Betty Augusta Ultima Søth (1820-1853), but she wife died three years later, after they returned from an Academy supported study trip to France, England and Italy. In 1854, he was named a member of the Academy. He remarried in 1855, to Mariane Ogilvie (1836-1857) and, in 1866, became a titular professor.^[5]

In 1872, he received "Det anckerske Legat [da]"; a grant for composers, writers and artists. This enabled him to visit Southern Europe, Egypt and Palestine where he made numerous sketches of people and landscapes.^[5] In addition to his portraits, he created numerous figure compositions, such as King Wermund with his son Offa, Christ at Gethsemane and genre scenes of peasant life. ^{[7] [8]}

He was awarded the Order of the Dannebrog in 1880. He died at Hellebæk in 1895 and was buried at Garrison Cemetery, Copenhagen.^[5]

One of his children, Elisabeth Schiøtt (1856-1893), studied with P.S. Krøyer and Laurits Tuxen and became a landscape painter. In 1938, an auction of his and his daughter's remaining works was held at the Academy and the proceeds were used to establish a scholarship.^[5][9]