914/​958

Valdemar Irminger (b. Copenhagen 1850, d. Frederiksberg 1938)

“En Billedhugger i sit Værksted i Rom”. The sculptor Theodor Lundberg (1852–1926) in his studio in Rome. He studies a clay figure placed on a sculpture trestle from a distance. Signed and dated V. I. Roma 87. Oil on canvas. 168×126 cm.

H. Chr. Christensen, A Catalogue Raisonné of the Works of Valdemar Irminger, 1917, no. 221.

Exhibited: Charlottenborg 1887 no. 166. Raadhusudstillingen 1901 no. 711a. Foreningen for National Kunst, “Mindeudstilling for Malerne Prof. Valdemar Irminger og Axel Johansen”, 1939 no. 19.

Literature: Foreningen for National Kunst, “Maleren Professor V. Irminger” in the series “Danske Kunstnere”, vol. VI, Ejnar Munksgaards Forlag 1949, ill. p. 23. The painting is described at p. 22 (in Danish): “It shows the typical old Roman sculptor's studio, an interior in an old church with the vaulted ceiling and the large window with a view to the bright day, cracked dilapidated walls, where a few sketches decorate a little, a black cat is resting on an old rush mat in the foreground, and in the middle of the room, a clay figure stands on a sculpture trestle. From the window in the background, the sculptor looks critically at his work. It is the Swedish sculptor Theodor Lundberg, who became professor and director of the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Stockholm.”

Provenance: Merchant Oscar Wandel (1901, 1917), his estate auction Sagførernes Auktioner 16 February 1926, no. 37. Professor Ingeborg Irminger (1939), her estate auction Kunsthallen 260, 1963 no. 95. Bruun Rasmussen auction 446, 1983 no. 180.

Lundberg was educated at the Swedish Academy of Fine Arts 1868–1877, then studied in Paris 1882–1884 at the École des Beaux-Arts and thereafter in Rome until 1888. Among Lundberg's many works, one can be emphasized, that has been very popular in Denmark: “Bølgen og Stranden” (The Wave and the Shore), casted as a group of porcelain from Royal Copenhagen, which has adorned many Danish homes.

Additional Remarks

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Auction

Paintings, drawings and icons, 14 June 2023

Category
Estimate

30,000–40,000 DKK

Sold

Price realised

25,000 DKK