This late-19th-century oil painting by Danish artist Frederik Christian Lund (1826-1901) depicts a farmer’s wife in profile. Lund was an accomplished academy-trained painter predominantly known for landscapes, architecture, scenes and portraits.
It’s a study of light as much as it’s a study of form. Note the outline, vividly illuminated, while the headscarf is partially transparent. Lund was intelligent and handled this with confidence. It’s inscribed Haarlev, 1882, relating to a small rural town on the Danish island of Zealand.
Born in Copenhagen, Lund developed an advanced drawing ability at an early age, admitted to the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts at the age of 12. It’s a remarkable achievement when you consider that in England, the youngest entrant to the Royal Academy was the great John Everett Millais (1829-1896), who enrolled at 11.
He trained there for ten years, at which point his education was interrupted following his conscription into the Danish Army. He served in the First Schleswig War and during this time continued to hone his skills by sketching numerous scenes involving battles. These were later translated into magazine illustrations. While away, he also had a work accepted into the Charlottenborg Spring Exhibition where he continued to exhibit until 1891 missing only a handful of years.
Following study trips to Paris, Brussels, Amsterdam, and London, he visited the artist Carl Bloch in Rome and sought to become one of Denmark’s leading history painters. He refined his approach during this period and produced an array of exquisite works - returning to Italy around ten years later.
Throughout his career, he continually challenged himself to evolve as an artist. Never settling into a particular mode. In this respect, he’s different to many of his peers who, when confronted with regular commissions, continued in the same vein in an effort to please their patrons.
His technique was underpinned by his acute ability as a draughtsman and this is exemplified in his depictions of architecture. When he approached a subject, he obsessed over the minutiae, creating exacting replicas of the scene before him. In this view of a Venetian backstreet, he practically painted every brick. While in this precise rendering of the Roman Forum, the details are near-photographic.
It could be said that he approached the human form with the same analytical eye - studying each nuance, fold of drapery, and subtle light effect.
In 1876, he was knighted with the Order of the Dannebrog. He’s represented at the Statens Museum for Kunst and the Aarhus Museum.
Signed and held in a gilt frame, which is probably original.
Learn more about Frederik Christian Lund in our directory.
Medium: Oil on canvas
Overall size: 14” x 26½” / 36cm x 67cm
Year of creation: 1882
Provenance: Private collection, Denmark.
Condition: Cleaned. Areas of fine and settled craquelure, as you would expect. The paint layer is stable. Frame with various marks and showing its age.
Artist’s auction maximum: £15,665 for ‘The Storm on Copenhagen, the Night Between the 10th and 11th of February 1659 (1880)’, Oil on canvas, Copenhagen, 2009.
Our reference: BRV1955
