This late-19th-century oil painting by Danish artist Vilhelm Groth (1842-1899) depicts a gentle view of the Gudenåen River. Hailing from Copenhagen, Groth was an accomplished academy-trained painter primarily known for landscapes.
Irrepressible Nordic light casts a silvery glow over a broad shimmering river, while two boys fish from a muddy nook on its banks. It’s a masterclass of subtle tonal variance. The Gudenåen is Denmark’s longest river and it’s abundant with fish.
Working during a transitional period for Danish art, Groth wrestled with the legacy of the past while also embracing the emerging ideas of the present. He trained formally at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts where students were urged to hone their draughtsmanship and look back for inspiration. At the time, artists were working in the shadows of the great Golden Age painters, such as P. C. Skovgaard (1817-1875) and J. L. Lund (1777-1867) who produced grandiose views elevated with a sense of national pride and idealism.
In P.C. Skovgaard’s ‘View of Skarre Sø’ (1845), each element is impeccably poised, like actors on a stage, to create a composite image of breathtaking beauty. The sky is radiant, almost Italian, while the limber trees stretch and lean to provide an aesthetically pleasing frame.
It’s enchanting but is it ‘real’? This was the question on the lips of younger artists keen to make their mark. Particularly those who were lured by the bright lights of Paris. In 1872, together with two friends, Godfred Christensen and Christian Zacho, Groth travelled to France where he spent the next six years.
Here it was altogether different due to the emergence of ‘realism’ in landscape painting, whereby artists, such as Charles-François Daubigny (1817-1878), were working predominantly outside to catch the shifting effects of light. They dismissed the ideologies of the previous generations and painted from life. The result was a quicker dabbed mark, less fidelity, and more humility. Groth was energised and integrated these new ideas into his approach.
His contemporaries were divided in their opinions with some still clinging to their formal training and others keen to progress. Discussions came to a head in 1876, when Groth published an article in reaction to the views of Vilhelm Kyhn (1819-1903) who had dismissed the French painters. Groth’s view was that each age has its own set of contemporary influences and the past should be left where it is.
He was particularly successful during his extensive career, exhibiting annually at Denmark’s foremost show, the Charlottenborg Spring Exhibition. While his painting ‘Hede med en Mose’ (Heath with a Bog) was acquired for the Danish Royal Collection.
Patrons enjoyed his pared-back and natural compositions, while his colouring matched the realities of the skies they lived under. He painted what he saw, best he could - it’s a simple, yet elegant, methodology.
He’s represented at the Statens Museum for Kunst and the Ribe Kunstmuseum.
Signed/dated in the lower right and held in a gilt frame, which is probably original.
Learn more about Vilhelm Groth in our directory.
Medium: Oil on canvas
Overall size: 24½” x 18½” / 62cm x 47cm
Year of creation: 1874
Labels & Inscriptions: Label from Kittendorff & Aagaard of Copenhagen / Framer’s label from O.B. Schieltved / Inscriptions with reference to the Gudenåen river and possibly the previous owner’s name.
Provenance: Private collection, Denmark.
Condition: Cleaned. Craquelure in areas. The paint layer is stable. Frame in excellent condition.
Artist’s auction maximum: £7,000 for ‘Waterlilies on a Sunlit River (1884)’, Oil on canvas, Christie’s, 19th Century Continental Pictures, Watercolours And Drawings, London, 1997 (lot 86).
Our reference: BRV1851
