This early 20th-century oil painting by Danish artist Erik Henningsen (1855-1930) depicts a rural family standing before a cottage. Henningsen was an accomplished painter of genre scenes, interiors, portraits and landscapes.
Pipe in hand, father stands proudly before a cottage dappled in light. His son, barefoot, looks on, while mother holds a pale. A grassy bank is rendered in a patchwork of sun-bleached dabs. The sky is crisp and wispy.
Henningsen had a gift for reportage, capturing everyday scenes with a masterful array of brushwork. With little embellishment or romantic sentiment, his observations are a window into the soul - more akin to documentary photography than traditional genre painting. Upon absorbing his work, you become an eyewitness to a story as it unfolds in your mind. The characters are familiar, yet it’s not a play or drama - simply the intricate nature of life skilfully captured in technicolour.
Born in Copenhagen, he initially studied at Christian Vilhelm Nielsen's drawing school before enrolling at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts. By the age of 22, he was showing works at the foremost exhibition in Denmark, the Charlottenborg Spring. From here, he developed a reputation for both portraiture and scenes, exhibiting at numerous European venues and winning several accolades.
He painted Denmark through the eyes of a storyteller and behind every scene, there are questions to consider. He was criticised at times for his more sombre offerings, such as ‘Morning in the Courtyard of the Adressecontoir, Copenhagen’ (1881) and ‘An Injured Worker’ (1895). Yet, when considered as journalistic, these become powerful snapshots of important recorded events.
In ‘The Dance Pavilion’ (1891), a more jovial undertaking, we’re reminded of Renoir’s ‘Luncheon of the Boating Party’ from ten years earlier. But rather than a decorative array of flirty fashionistas, he brings us a gathering of red-faced gents, endeavouring to sway in time. It reveals a great deal about his sideways glances at modern Danish society, which are at times, almost satirical.
His masterpiece, ‘The Morning Ride, At Copenhagen’ works on two levels. A beautiful couple, desperately in love, cycle alongside each other - his right hand resting on her shoulder as she looks back endearingly. Yet beyond, we see the realities of an industrialised city with its chimneys puncturing a bright Nordic sky. The smoke is just a moment away.
Around the turn of the century, his brushwork became a little looser with short dabbed marks accompanying his usual repertoire. His approach in his later years would be classed as ‘naturalism’, yet at times, it feels closer to impressionism. He continued to work into his seventies.
Erik Henningsen is represented at the Hirschsprung Collection and the Statens Museum for Kunst. His older brother was the artist Frants Henningsen (1850-1908).
Signed in the lower right and held in a gilt frame, which is probably original.
Learn more about Erik Henningsen in our directory.
Medium: Oil on canvas
Overall size: 28” x 22½” / 71cm x 57cm
Year of creation: c. 1915
Labels & Inscriptions: Framer’s label on reverse.
Provenance: Private collection, Denmark.
Condition: Cleaned. Revarnished. Craquelure throughout. The paint layer is stable. The canvas was extended by the artist towards the bottom. Frame with various marks and showing its age.
Artist’s auction maximum: £105,800 for ‘The Dinner Party’, Oil on canvas, Sotheby's, La Belle Epoque - Paintings And Sculpture, New York, 1996 (lot 398).
Our reference: BRV1858
