Literature: Ernst Mentze: "William Scharff, Copenhagen, 1958, ill. p. 69. Literature: “Fortegnelse over Skulptur. Maleri og Grafik tilhørende Erling Koefoed”, Copenhagen, 1961, ill. p. 105.

Exhibited: Grønningen, Copenhagen and Aarhus, 1918, cat. no. 54 f or Grønningen, Copenhagen, 1919, cat. no. 91 f. Exhibited: Vor Tids Kunst i Privateje, Copenhagen, 1953, cat. no. 244. Exhibited: “Byens Billede”, Esplanaden, Copenhagen, 1954. Exhibited: Kunstforeningens Mindeudstilling, Charlottenborg, Copenhagen, 1958, cat. no. 52. Exhibited: “Fortegnelse over et udvalg af skulptur - maleri og grafik tilhørende Erling Koefoed”, Kunstforeningen, Copenhagen, 1966, cat. no. 102. Exhibited: “Fortegnelse over et udvalg af skulptur - maleri og grafik tilhørende Erling Koefoed”, Esbjerg Kunstforening, 1966, cat. no. 102.

Provenance: Kunsthallen Kunstauktioner, Copenhagen, 1952, cat. no. 142, ill. p. 142. Provenance: Lawyer Erling Koefoed, Copenhagen.

William Scharff played a substantial role in the introduction of Cubism into Danish art. His upbringing with his grandparents in a farming environment rich in traditions in Tisvilde had a great impact on his choice of motifs and understanding of the world, while the avant-garde movements of the time influenced his approach to the structure of the image. These different influences were combined in the desire to find a synthetic expression for the coexistence between man and nature. After becoming a journeyman painter in 1904, Scharff unsuccessfully sought admission to the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts. Instead, he entered the Artists’ Study School, and in continuation of this education he joined the circle of young artists who exhibited under the name De Tretten (The Thirteen). With this group Scharff presented naturalistic cityscapes with trams, but soon after he found inspiration in the art of the European post-impressionists, especially Paul Cézanne and Edvard Munch, which he saw on a trip to Berlin in 1909. During World War I, Scharff joined the newly established artists association Grønningen and became part of the group’s inner circle for whom contemporary international avant-garde art represented an unavoidable challenge. Already in 1911, he visited Paris, where he was introduced to Picasso, and later in 1914 this was supplemented with impressions from Kandinsky, whom he met at the Baltic Exhibition in Malmö. He experienced how the art of painting “transferred into an art form, where it became more and more important to provide a purely soulful personal effort… although it was now more and more important to free the colour from the visual impression, make it work in harmonies; transform things in colour, fill the image in a balanced way, make the colour deliver so much, so that the first impression of the image would be the imposing force of the colour, and only afterwards one would briefly be filled with some kind of sensation that the inner experience grows out of the outer visual experience.” (Carl V. petersen: ”Til Belysningen af Forholdet mellem Kunst og Natur. William Schaff, i “Tilskueren”, 1918, p. 539–45) Scharff's compositions with chickens from 1917–18 are among the most dynamic works and potent examples of the interpretation of international impulses in a Danish context – here Naturalism, Cubism and Futurism meet the peasant idyll and the longing for a life in harmony with nature. The artwork shows an increasingly fragmented universe with clear Cubist origins, but at the same time it appears as an interpretation of Kandinsky's understanding of the psychological effect of colours and shapes as well as the spiritual dimension of art and close kinship with music. There are versions of the compositions with chickens at, among other institutions, the National Gallery of Denmark and in well-known prominent collections.