Ditlev Blunck (b. Holstein 1798, d. Hamburg 1854)
“En gadescene”. A street scene. A horse guard bids farewell to his girl. Signed and dated D. Blunck 1828. Oil on canvas. 63×48 cm.
Karin Bechmann Søndergaard, A Catalogue Raisonné of the works of Ditlev Blunck in “Blunck”, 2017, registered under 1820, p. 311.
The painting has previously been sold as dated 1820 (1835 and 1976) and 1823 (1934). We believe it to be dated 1828, i.e. the same year as it was exhibited at Charlottenborg.
Exhibited: Charlottenborg, 1828 no. 53. “Fortegnelse over de kunstgjenstande, der udstilles paa universitet” (List of artifacts exhibited at the University), 1843 No. 96. “Rådhusudstillingen af Dansk Kunst indtil 1890” (The Town Hall Exhibition of Danish Art until 1890), 1901 no. 185.
Literature: Karin Bechmann Søndergaard, “Blunck”, 2017, mentioned pp. 62–64.
Provenance: J. M. Thiele (1828, 1843). Chamberlain, Forest Superintendent Müller (1901). Winkel & Magnussen auction 160, 1934 no. 21, reproduced p. 10. Winkel & Magnussen auction 185, 1935 no. 59, reproduced p. 13. Bruun Rasmussen auction 354, 1976 no. 28, reproduced p. 4.
There is a preliminary study for this painting in the Bravo Archive at the National Gallery of Denmark, (archive box III no. 6), as well as an etching done by Edvard Sonne in 1828 based on the original painting (National Gallery of Denmark inv. no. KKS 16497).
Depictions of everyday life and everyday situations, also known as 'genre painting', of which this work is a good and very interesting example, were not in high demand at the Danish Academy of Fine Arts in the late 1700s and early 1800s. History painting was ranked the highest and thus the most prestigious genre of painting. However, things changed during the 1820s and 30s, with genre painting gaining an entirely new status in Danish art and becoming prestigious and modern. Eckersberg also embraced this genre and painted several small everyday scenes during the 1830s, including the famous “Langebro i måneskin med løbende figurer” (Langebro in moonlight with running figures) from 1836 (National Gallery of Denmark, inv. no. KMS7284) or the work “Udsigt gennem en Dør til løbende Figurer” (View through a door to running figures) from 1845 (National Gallery of Denmark, inv. no. KMS8847), sold at auction at Bruun Rasmussen in 2017.
Although Blunck trained as a history painter, which was also his genre of choice, he nevertheless contributed this extremely interesting and original work to the ‘genre painting’ in 1828.
Karin Bechmann Søndergaard has written extensively about the work in the book “Blunck. En biografisk fortælling om en anderledes guldaldermaler og hans samtidige” (Blunck. A biographical story about a different kind of Golden Age painter and his contemporaries), published in 2017 in connection with the “Ditlev Blunck. A different kind of Golden Age painter” exhibition at Nivaagaard.
KBS writes about the painting under the heading “An erotic genre painting”, where she puts it into perspective with, among others, art historians N. L. Høyen (1798–1870) and Kasper Monrad’s (1952–2018) interpretation of the work, and suggests a possible interpretation of the work herself, seen in the light of Blunck’s homosexuality.
“An often-mentioned genre painting from 1820 [1828?], which was the subject of countless interpretations, both at the time and later, is “En gadescene” (A street scene) or “Dragon der tager afsked med kæresten” (A horse guard bids his girl farewell), as it is also called. N. L. Høyen wrote at the time about the painting: “A tall, strong, handsome horse guard appears to have been about to mount his horse when he was stopped by a well-dressed maid – his girlfriend – who, at the moment we step in front of the painting, is about to make a confession to him. He is paying little more attention to her grievance than many a horseman about to ride away would in the romance novels, and this makes her drop to her knees out of sorrow and bashfulness. Both are so preoccupied with themselves – he out of a certain embarrassment, she out of pain, as her last hope is perhaps dashed – that neither of them hears the pretzels and eggs smashing to the ground due to the curious horse’s examination of the girl’s basket of greens”. Høyen highlighted Blunck’s empathetic description of the scene, and he found “a rare truth in the composition and expression of this group”. On the other hand, he cannot understand the amusement of the sentry in the scene. Høyen cannot help but feel affronted when he writes: “Why has the artist wanted to spoil our enjoyment by placing the sentry in the picture, who, with his unrefined grin, poorly plays the role of the chorus? Who would wish to gloat at such an incident?” Of the art historians from our own time who have dealt with the painting, Kasper Monrad says that it is characterised by whimsiness, which did not otherwise exist in the paintings of the period. Only later would it become a feature of genre painting .....[...]. Henrik Bramsen also touches on the painting’s erotic undertones and says “Blunck deals with the classic story of the soldier heading off to war and the woman being left behind at home, and perhaps the painting also tells the timeless story of the conflicting interests of the sexes”. The interpretation could be taken a step further if the broken eggs are considered a symbol of lost innocence, which the sentry could be hinting at with his ironic, knowing grin. And if Blunck’s sexual orientation had been public knowledge in 1828, and the concept of homosexuality had been established at the time, some would probably have found a different meaning in the farewell painting, namely that the horse guard’s lack of interest in the girl was due to a different sexual orientation, and that the sentry’s cheeky grin revealed that he was aware of this truth, or was perhaps even involved with the soldier himself. Seen through contemporary eyes, it can be difficult to spot anything particularly erotic or offensive in Blunck’s street scene. But if you take another look at the street scene, the painting may be interpreted as above. Sexuality as a theme seems largely absent in Blunck’s oeuvre as a whole, with the exception of one painting, “Mareridt” (Nightmare), which he painted late in life.” (pp. 62–63). “Mareridt” is at The Nivaagaard Collection (inv. no. 0213NMK).
Please note: The item is subject to the Anti-Money Laundering Act. In the event of a hammer price of DKK 50,000 or more, including buyer’s premium, the buyer must submit a copy of a valid photo ID and proof of address in order to collect the item.
Paintings & drawings, 1 March 2022