The Danish artist Carl Holsøe ranks as one of three artists who together revivified domestic interior painting in 19th century Scandinavian art. Together with Vilhelm Hammershøi (1864-1916) and Peter Ilsted (1861-1933), his focus was on the quiet longing emanating from lonely figures in still interiors.
But whereas Hammershøi would go on to achieve renown with the evocation of psychological moments encapsulated by figures frozen in time, and Ilsted became a considerable graphic artist, Holsøe was perhaps the most "painterly" of the three. Where Hammershøi would almost invariably apply the paint on his canvases sparingly, so as to suggest a sense of otherness, Holsøe was the more confident in his use of technique and composition.
Our present work is a watercolour set in attractive hues of dark and light which delightfully complement each other. The cherry brown bureau at which the unidentified woman is sitting matches well with the velvet green of the curtain and the wall. Lighter touches are provided by the little vase of flowers standing atop the bureau, and the woman's reddish-blond hair is echoed by the picture frame and the inset of the mirror.
Although Holsøe liked to produce paintings in which colours were the driving force (which is especially important when making a watercolour), he also had a sharp sense of spatial structure and composition. This is obvious in the present watercolour. The angular corner of the mirror is repeated in the side of the picture frame, and the curves of the falling folds reaching down to the hemline of the dress the woman is wearing are replicated in the slightly curved legs of the bureau.
Most notable of all is the crisp whiteness of the dress: this sets the lady apart from everything else in the composition and almost makes her glow. The artist clearly wants the viewer to identify with the anonymous woman [1].
Carl Holsøe was born in Aarhus in 1863 as the son of an architect. He attended Copenhagen's Royal Academy of Fine Arts in 1882 and switched to study at the Free Academy led by P.S. Krøyer, Denmark's leading impressionist, in 1884. It was there that he became friends with his fellow student Vilhelm Hammershøi, an attachment that was to last until Hammershøi's death. Each was to exercise mutual influence and inspiration on the other's artistic development [2]. He soon achieved success at exhibitions, and gained honourable mentions at exhibitions in Paris (1889) and Munich (1891). He continued to paint and exhibit until his death in 1935.
Holsøe's work can be found in many leading museums in Scandinavia, although his international prominence has started to grow in recent years, and examples of his art can also be found elsewhere, for example, the Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza in Madrid.
_______________________
1. The artist's wife, Emilie, was almost certainly the model for this composition, but this was not intended by Holsøe as a portrait of his wife.
2. Hammershøi and Europe, exh.cat. Statens Museum for Kunst Copenhagen, 2012, pp. 76 and 91.
But whereas Hammershøi would go on to achieve renown with the evocation of psychological moments encapsulated by figures frozen in time, and Ilsted became a considerable graphic artist, Holsøe was perhaps the most "painterly" of the three. Where Hammershøi would almost invariably apply the paint on his canvases sparingly, so as to suggest a sense of otherness, Holsøe was the more confident in his use of technique and composition.
Our present work is a watercolour set in attractive hues of dark and light which delightfully complement each other. The cherry brown bureau at which the unidentified woman is sitting matches well with the velvet green of the curtain and the wall. Lighter touches are provided by the little vase of flowers standing atop the bureau, and the woman's reddish-blond hair is echoed by the picture frame and the inset of the mirror.
Although Holsøe liked to produce paintings in which colours were the driving force (which is especially important when making a watercolour), he also had a sharp sense of spatial structure and composition. This is obvious in the present watercolour. The angular corner of the mirror is repeated in the side of the picture frame, and the curves of the falling folds reaching down to the hemline of the dress the woman is wearing are replicated in the slightly curved legs of the bureau.
Most notable of all is the crisp whiteness of the dress: this sets the lady apart from everything else in the composition and almost makes her glow. The artist clearly wants the viewer to identify with the anonymous woman [1].
Carl Holsøe was born in Aarhus in 1863 as the son of an architect. He attended Copenhagen's Royal Academy of Fine Arts in 1882 and switched to study at the Free Academy led by P.S. Krøyer, Denmark's leading impressionist, in 1884. It was there that he became friends with his fellow student Vilhelm Hammershøi, an attachment that was to last until Hammershøi's death. Each was to exercise mutual influence and inspiration on the other's artistic development [2]. He soon achieved success at exhibitions, and gained honourable mentions at exhibitions in Paris (1889) and Munich (1891). He continued to paint and exhibit until his death in 1935.
Holsøe's work can be found in many leading museums in Scandinavia, although his international prominence has started to grow in recent years, and examples of his art can also be found elsewhere, for example, the Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza in Madrid.
_______________________
1. The artist's wife, Emilie, was almost certainly the model for this composition, but this was not intended by Holsøe as a portrait of his wife.
2. Hammershøi and Europe, exh.cat. Statens Museum for Kunst Copenhagen, 2012, pp. 76 and 91.
Lady at a bureau
Signed lower right: C. HOLSØE
Watercolour and pencil on paper
38 x 34,5 cm
Provenance
Private collection, Copenhagen
The Danish artist Carl Holsøe ranks as one of three artists who together revivified domestic interior painting in 19th century Scandinavian art. Together with Vilhelm Hammershøi (1864-1916) and Peter Ilsted (1861-1933), his focus was on the quiet longing emanating from lonely figures in still interiors.
But whereas Hammershøi would go on to achieve renown with the evocation of psychological moments encapsulated by figures frozen in time, and Ilsted became a considerable graphic artist, Holsøe was perhaps the most "painterly" of the three. Where Hammershøi would almost invariably apply the paint on his canvases sparingly, so as to suggest a sense of otherness, Holsøe was the more confident in his use of technique and composition.
Our present work is a watercolour set in attractive hues of dark and light which delightfully complement each other. The cherry brown bureau at which the unidentified woman is sitting matches well with the velvet green of the curtain and the wall. Lighter touches are provided by the little vase of flowers standing atop the bureau, and the woman's reddish-blond hair is echoed by the picture frame and the inset of the mirror.
Although Holsøe liked to produce paintings in which colours were the driving force (which is especially important when making a watercolour), he also had a sharp sense of spatial structure and composition. This is obvious in the present watercolour. The angular corner of the mirror is repeated in the side of the picture frame, and the curves of the falling folds reaching down to the hemline of the dress the woman is wearing are replicated in the slightly curved legs of the bureau.
Most notable of all is the crisp whiteness of the dress: this sets the lady apart from everything else in the composition and almost makes her glow. The artist clearly wants the viewer to identify with the anonymous woman [1].
Carl Holsøe was born in Aarhus in 1863 as the son of an architect. He attended Copenhagen's Royal Academy of Fine Arts in 1882 and switched to study at the Free Academy led by P.S. Krøyer, Denmark's leading impressionist, in 1884. It was there that he became friends with his fellow student Vilhelm Hammershøi, an attachment that was to last until Hammershøi's death. Each was to exercise mutual influence and inspiration on the other's artistic development [2]. He soon achieved success at exhibitions, and gained honourable mentions at exhibitions in Paris (1889) and Munich (1891). He continued to paint and exhibit until his death in 1935.
Holsøe's work can be found in many leading museums in Scandinavia, although his international prominence has started to grow in recent years, and examples of his art can also be found elsewhere, for example, the Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza in Madrid.
_______________________
1. The artist's wife, Emilie, was almost certainly the model for this composition, but this was not intended by Holsøe as a portrait of his wife.
2. Hammershøi and Europe, exh.cat. Statens Museum for Kunst Copenhagen, 2012, pp. 76 and 91.
But whereas Hammershøi would go on to achieve renown with the evocation of psychological moments encapsulated by figures frozen in time, and Ilsted became a considerable graphic artist, Holsøe was perhaps the most "painterly" of the three. Where Hammershøi would almost invariably apply the paint on his canvases sparingly, so as to suggest a sense of otherness, Holsøe was the more confident in his use of technique and composition.
Our present work is a watercolour set in attractive hues of dark and light which delightfully complement each other. The cherry brown bureau at which the unidentified woman is sitting matches well with the velvet green of the curtain and the wall. Lighter touches are provided by the little vase of flowers standing atop the bureau, and the woman's reddish-blond hair is echoed by the picture frame and the inset of the mirror.
Although Holsøe liked to produce paintings in which colours were the driving force (which is especially important when making a watercolour), he also had a sharp sense of spatial structure and composition. This is obvious in the present watercolour. The angular corner of the mirror is repeated in the side of the picture frame, and the curves of the falling folds reaching down to the hemline of the dress the woman is wearing are replicated in the slightly curved legs of the bureau.
Most notable of all is the crisp whiteness of the dress: this sets the lady apart from everything else in the composition and almost makes her glow. The artist clearly wants the viewer to identify with the anonymous woman [1].
Carl Holsøe was born in Aarhus in 1863 as the son of an architect. He attended Copenhagen's Royal Academy of Fine Arts in 1882 and switched to study at the Free Academy led by P.S. Krøyer, Denmark's leading impressionist, in 1884. It was there that he became friends with his fellow student Vilhelm Hammershøi, an attachment that was to last until Hammershøi's death. Each was to exercise mutual influence and inspiration on the other's artistic development [2]. He soon achieved success at exhibitions, and gained honourable mentions at exhibitions in Paris (1889) and Munich (1891). He continued to paint and exhibit until his death in 1935.
Holsøe's work can be found in many leading museums in Scandinavia, although his international prominence has started to grow in recent years, and examples of his art can also be found elsewhere, for example, the Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza in Madrid.
_______________________
1. The artist's wife, Emilie, was almost certainly the model for this composition, but this was not intended by Holsøe as a portrait of his wife.
2. Hammershøi and Europe, exh.cat. Statens Museum for Kunst Copenhagen, 2012, pp. 76 and 91.
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