This beautiful late 19th-century oil painting by Danish artist Eiler Rasmussen Eilersen (1827-1912) depicts an idyllic view with a forest and lake. Eilersen was a celebrated, academy-trained, painter of landscapes.
A decorous array of serene white water lilies scatter the shimmering foreground, illuminated by the buoyancy of Summer. It’s rural Utopia, where the forest meets the lake to create a harmonious symphony of resplendent proportions. Eilersen loved it here, capturing this view from a lower vantage point to exploit its abundant picturesque qualities. It’s possibly Sorö Lake on the island of Zealand, where he’s known to have painted the following year. The addition of a small boat is a clever one as it provides greater depth and a distant visual anchor.
The son of a farmer, Eilersen displayed an affinity for painting from a young age and, thanks to the patronage of the wealthy philanthropist, Preben Bille-Brahe (1773-1857), he was able to undertake studies in art. He began his education in Faaborg before moving on to the eminent Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts in Copenhagen. However, due to the outbreak of the First Schleswig War, during which he was drafted into the Danish army, his training was interrupted for a period of two years.
When returning to the Academy, he approached his craft with renewed determination and soon gained an audience of admirers, including the Danish Royal Family. Patrons were enamoured by his sense of luminous realism, richness of tone and masterful brushwork. But above all else, it was Eilersen’s romantic ideology, which captured the imagination. At a time of ever-increasing industry, he provided a much-needed escape into the permanency of nature.
He’s represented at the Statens Museum for Kunst.
Signed/dated in the lower left and held in a contemporary frame.
Learn more about Eiler Rasmussen Eilersen in our directory.
Medium: Oil on canvas
Overall size: 34” x 23½” / 86cm x 60cm
Year of creation: 1881
Provenance: Private collection, Denmark.
Condition: Cleaned. Faint stretcher mark. Craquelure throughout. The paint layer is stable. Frame in excellent condition.
Artist’s auction maximum: £14,000 for ‘Summer's Day (1878)’, Oil on canvas, Sotheby's, 'From The Collection Of The Prince And Princess Henry De La Tour D'auvergne Lauraguais', London, 3 May 2012 (lot 11).
Our reference: BRV1993
