Christen Købke (b. Copenhagen 1810, d. s.p. 1848)
Purchased by "Den Hirschsprungske Samling“ in June 2022.
“Nedgang til et køkken”. Steps Leading Down to a Kitchen. The view from the kitchen in the basement of the artist's home on Blegdammen towards Dosseringen. C. 1845. Unsigned. Oil on paper laid on canvas. 37.5×34 cm.
Kursiv: Emil Hannover, A Catalogue Raisonné of the Works of Christen Købke, 1893 no. 151. Mario Krohn, A Catalogue Raisonné of the Works of Christen Købke, 1915 no. 196, reproduced p. 114. Jørgen Folmers and Iben From, A Catalogue Raisonné of the Works of Christen Købke, 1996 no. 196, reproduced p. 320.
Exhibited: Kunstforeningen, “Fortegnelse over Købkes Malerier, 1912 no. 196. Kunstforeningen, ”Christen Købke“, 1953 no. 109. The National Gallery of Denmark, ”Købke på Blegdammen og ved Sortedamssøen“, 1981, no. 56, reproduced p. 23. The National Gallery of Denmark, ”Christen Købke 1810–1848", 1996, no. 196, reproduced p. 320.
Literature: Kasper Monrad, “Hjemmet på Blegdammen” in the exhibition catalogue “Købke på Blegdammen og ved Sortedamssøen”, The National Gallery of Denmark, 1981, mentioned p. 10, p. 19, p. 21 and p. 35, reproduced p. 23. Kasper Monrad, “Bagermester Købkes gård på Blegdammen” in the exhibition catalogue “Christen Købke 1810–1848”, The National Gallery of Denmark, 1996, p. 203. Mikael Wivel, “Afsked med Blegdammen” in the exhibition catalogue “Christen Købke 1810–1848”, The National Gallery of Denmark, 1996, pp. 319–325, reproduced p. 320. Hans Edvard Nørregård-Nielsen, “Christen Købke”, vol. III, “Italien tur-retur”, 1996, mentioned p. 221, reproduced p. 212.
Reproduced: Henrik Bramsen, “Christen Købke, 1942. Jørn Rubow, ”Christien Købke", 1945.
Provenance: The estate auction of Christen Købke1848, listed under “Köbkes malede Studier og Skizzer” (Købke's oil studies and sketches) no. 16. Here acquired by the painter Jens Peter Møller (1783–1854), sold at his estate auction1855, listed under “Andre Kunstneres Arbeider, b) Skizzer og Studier” (works by other artists, b) sketches and studies), no. 170. Widow Augusta Paulli (1835–1906) (1893). Thence by descent to her son engineer Hugo Paulli (1859–1936) (1912, 1915). Master of the Royal Hunt W. de Neergaard, Førslevgård (1892–1968) (1953). Thence by descent until today.
The present painting belongs to a series of four ‘farewell paintings’, which Købke painted of his family’s house in Blegdammen. They were all made around 1845 right before the family, with a deep sense of sorrow for everyone, had to move from the place when the father died in 1843, and the mother therefore a couple years later had to sell the house.
Mikael Wivel writes about the four oil sketches in the catalogue for the exhibition at the National Gallery of Denmark in 1996 that, “they belong among his most beautiful ever.” (p. 319).
Wivel continues: “These are four small images, where Købke in a way walks a final round in his home up till now. He walks around for the last time and captures the individual stations with touching care. If you look at the images as a process, it is noticeable that they all deal with stairs and gates. There are the stairs from the kitchen, from the basement up to the courtyard behind the house [present painting], and the gate from the courtyard out to the garden at the gable of the house [”A Corner of the Artist's Father's House“, The National Gallery of Denmark inv. no. KMS3612], and the stairs from this garden up to Købke's studio and home [”The Garden Steps Leading to the Artist's Studio on Blegdammen, Copenhagen“, The National Gallery of Denmark inv. no. KMS6605], and finally the gate from the courtyard to Dosseringen (the bankside) [”The Garden Gate of the Artist's Home at Blegdammen", The National Gallery of Denmark inv. no. KMS6827]. Pure intimate thresholds that Købke has crossed. There is an additional process, where the light indicates the time of the day – from early mid-morning to late afternoon. All the hours of the day where the artist felt most confident about his work. The image from the courtyard is thus painted in the morning, and the same applies to the one from the kitchen – the other two, on the other hand, are painted in the afternoon, one early, the other late. It is the daily rhythm of Købke that is presented to the viewer – in friendly images full of possibilities. In the first painting, [The National Gallery of Denmark, inv. no. KMS3612], he has positioned himself in the middle of the courtyard behind the house where he has lived a long time and looks towards the corner. It is early in the morning and the fresh rays of sun hit the corner without anything blocking them and continue inside via the open window. The gate to his own little garden is also open as an invitation – it's only a matter of a few steps before he is inside his own home again. In the second [and present painting] he has sat down in his kitchen in the cellar and looked out at the spot where he has just been. It's noon, and the sun is so high in the sky that its rays are only just reaching the kitchen floor. The steps are still brightened by the light, and the double door is wide open, you look far out onto the square and onwards to the small gate towards Dosseringen (the bankside). Again, it's all just a matter of a few steps. In the third [The National Gallery of Denmark, inv. no. KMS6827] Købke has taken these steps and has made it all the way out to the gate – by that gate or another a little further on, since the vegetation is not completely identical to the previous images. It's afternoon now, the sun's rays are shooting down in a crooked angle behind the painter, hitting the fence and the trunks and colouring them golden – and Købke follows them with his gaze. The door is open – just like the way out. In the fourth and last painting [The National Gallery of Denmark, inv. no. KMS6605] Købke has returned to the house. He has crossed the square, entered through his gate and rounded the corner – and he now stands by the stairs up to his accommodations. It is late afternoon, the sun's rays fall low over the avenue trees and hit the house's facade – making it glow. The stairs swing invitingly open towards the door to the studio, which is also open. Købke is home again.” (pp. 319–320)
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Paintings & drawings, 8 June 2022