Paintings of the Danish Golden Age – From Copenhagen to Italy

Children of the Danish Golden Age

The portrait of the bourgeoisie was an emerging genre during the Danish Golden Age, and one of the highlights at the auction comes from one of the finest painters of that period, C.A. Jensen (1792-1870). He became known for his excellent depictions of people, and several of his portraits are today on display at the National Gallery of Denmark. In the offered work, C.A. Jensen has made a very fine portrait of the influential Puggaard family's three children, Arnette Marie Bolette, Hans Christopher Wilhelm and Rudolph Christopher. The father, Hans Puggaard, was an enterprising businessman, while the mother Bolette defied the norms of the time for women and became an avid landscape painter. The Puggaard home also functioned as a cultural meeting place for the democratically oriented artists, intellectuals and politicians of the time.

From a Journey to the Melting Pot of Art 

We remain for a while in the Danish Golden Age with a work by Martinus Rørbye (1803-1848). At our anniversary auction a few months ago, we sold a Martinus Rørbye painting from Amalfi to the National Gallery of Denmark. Now we follow up with another of Rørbye’s Golden Age treasures – this time from his honeymoon in Italy in 1840. The setting is by the water in Palermo overlooking the Catalfano mountain in the background. Three men are sitting on the pier, while the people of the city stroll along the harbour promenade. The work's creation and the experiences on Sicily are described in detail in Rørbye's diary, which states, among other things, "they call my painting una galanteria, because they recognize everything they see in the world in the painting".

Women as Motifs in Art

Throughout art history, women as motifs have played a crucial role. And if we fast forward a few years from the Danish Golden Age, we find two fine portraits by L.A. Ring (1854-1933). One of the portraits is from 1890 and depicts the artist's great unrequited love, the already married Johanne Wilde, who is seen with a yellow summer hat and contemplative blue eyes. In the second portrait, which is from 1897, we meet Ring’s beloved wife Sigrid, whom he had married the year before this painting was made. She is standing on the beach in the small town of Karrebæksminde and looking out over the sea while wearing a blue dress and a straw hat.

Depictions of women can also be found in the work of Ring’s contemporary, the artist Peter Ilsted (1861-1933), with three works containing women with their back turned. The special mood of silence in these works illustrates the artistic connection to the colleague and brother-in-law Vilhelm Hammershøi. This connection is also highlighted at the Musee Jacquemart-André in Paris with their spring exhibition entitled "Hammershøi, le maître de la peinture danoise", where works by the two artists are presented side by side.

Auction: Tuesday 26 February at 4 pm at Bredgade 33 in Copenhagen

Preview: 21-25 February at the same address

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