This early 20th-century oil painting by Danish artist Gustav Vermehren (1863-1931) depicts a coastal view with substantial rocks, beach and pools.

Vermehren was born into a creative family and destined to become an artist. His father, Frederik (1823-1910) was an accomplished painter, well admired for his idealised rural scenes, and taught both his sons to draw. Soon, Gustav enrolled at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, where he would later become a professor.

Working during a time of great artistic turbulence, he stayed faithful to his father’s teachings despite the taunts of his modernist peers. With impressionism in full swing, he continued to paint finely - in a naturalistic style.

Here, in this piece from 1907, he’s selected a stimulating composition with several elements to explore. Running through the middle, an unusual formation of rocks is rendered intelligently with each plane considered in terms of its texture, colour, and light effects. These are particularly lifelike and split the view into distinctive left and right elements.

On the far right, trees in various tones emerge from a bank, with a grassy track, peppered with stones, passing alongside. While on the left, the sea is described in gentle tints before culminating in a brilliant white flash.

Vermehren exhibited regularly at the Charlottenborg Spring Exhibition.

Signed/dated lower right and held within a gilt frame.

Learn more about Gustav Vermehren in our directory.

Medium: Oil on canvas
Overall size: 31½” x 26½” / 80cm x 67cm
Year of creation: 1907
Provenance: Private collection, Denmark.
Condition: Assessed and approved by our conservator. Cleaned. Canvas relined. Fine and settled craquelure, as you would expect. The paint layer is stable.
Artist’s auction maximum: £18,400 for ‘Early Morning in the Home of the Seamstress’, Oil on canvas, Denmark, 1988 (lot 80).
Our reference: BRV1850