789. CARL HOLSOE (DANMARK, 1863-1935). Interior.

Oil on canvas, 55 x 58 cm. Signed C.Holsöe

The Danish artist Carl Holsøe was born in 1863 on the east coast of Jutland in the city of Aarhus. He grew up during a time in rapid development, in which industry and cities expanded and changed. The father in the household, Niels Peder Christian Holsøe, was an architect and his house was built for the most part in the increasingly established brick architecture. At the age of nineteen, Carl Holsøe began studying at the Academy of Fine Arts in Copenhagen, followed two years later by studies in artist Peder Severin Kröyer's private art school, Kunstnernes Frie Studieskoler.

A new bourgeoisie with a new way of life was established in the cities and larger floors were built, as well as summer residences for recreation and summer pleasure were erected along the coast. The bourgeois home became an important place, a place with a clear division of space between the private and the social, and where the importance of things grew. Through a greater expansion of trade and import, more people were able to gild their homes and collect objects from afar. Furniture in the rooms received, in addition to its function, representative meanings.

Teaching under the established artist Kröyer led Holsøe to a freer style of painting. However, unlike the skagen painter's approach, which was man's life outdoors, it was interiors that Holsøe took on as a life task to portray. However, the depiction of the changeability of natural sunlight and the influence on the subject united him with the master Kröyer. And this association, despite different choice of motives, is palpable.

Most of Holsøe's oeuvre thus depicts beautiful, contemplative rooms in sheer colors.. The homes are bourgeois and well furnished with mahogany furniture, porcelain and light textiles. Often a woman is portrayed from behind, immersed in a quiet activity, such as reading or needlework. The proximity to nature is palpable through often hidden light inlets, which create a subtle, pleasant light over the room. Not infrequently, it is the dawn that gently awakens the home. Tenacity, choice of subjects and lighting united Holsøe with his friend, the like-minded artist Vilhelm Hammershøi. The inspiration of the two artists, in addition to the interiors of their contemporaries, can be traced back to the interior painting of the Dutch Golden Age, in which objects are highlighted as a central part of the work together with a woman seen from afar.

The work “Interior” is a fantastic example of Holsøe's interiors. The focus is on the short side of a beautifully carefully furnished room with a representative character. Each thing has its place and decorative function. Beautiful blue-white porcelain is placed over the door, and the wall light with its prisms is surrounded by paintings. During the arrangement stands a beautiful chest of drawers made of dark wood on the top of which stands a flower, a vase and a jug. The pleasant color tone of the room is interrupted by a subtle play of shadows visible on the white door. The light that also hits the dark, polished wooden floor arouses a curiosity to move us further.

These beautiful interiors have a timeless character while telling a lot about the taste of their time and the liver. It is at the same time both interesting and beautiful. A captivating painting that adds beauty and tranquility.