At the Beach with Paul Fischer

Bright evenings, blue waves and women at the beach – we welcome the summer with a number of paintings by the Danish artist Paul Fischer. He is best known as the "Painter of Copenhagen", but at the upcoming Live Auction, he invites us outside the city.

Paul Fischer: "Ved stranden i Hellerup" (At the Beach in Hellerup). Ms Elisabeth Fischer and Miss Anna Pauline Bruun on a summer day at the beach in Hellerup. Signed. Oil on canvas. 58 x 74 cm. Estimate: DKK 600,000-800,000.

Paul Fischer: Bathing Belles at Hornbæk Beach. Signed. Oil on canvas. 52 x 75 cm. Estimate: DKK 200,000-250,000.

Paul Fischer: Busy Day at the Fish Market at Gammel Strand in Copenhagen. 1919. Signed. Oil on canvas. 92 x 125 cm. Estimate: DKK 500,000-600,000.

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At the upcoming Live Auction in Copenhagen, a selection of 15 works by the popular painter Paul Fischer (1860-1934) will be presented. In seven of these charming paintings, the artist has gone to the beach at places such as Hellerup and Hornbæk, where one bathing belle after the other have found their way into the motifs. The depicted women are enjoying life and each other's company in the sun, and you get your money’s worth in terms of a summer feeling.

In one of the beach scenes from Hellerup, Fischer has portrayed two chic young women named Elisabeth Fischer and Anna Pauline Bruun wearing fashionable clothing and hats. They stand and gaze out over the sea during a summer evening in 1894, and the mood of the painting leads one’s thoughts to works by Skagen Painters such as P.S. Krøyer and Michael Ancher, who are known for similar motifs. The painting by Fischer was purchased directly from the artist in the early 1900s by the current owner's great-grandfather and has never been for sale before.

The Painter of Copenhagen

Fischer is best known as a painter of Copenhagen, and no one has portrayed the city as thoroughly as he has. Over a period of 50 years, the ladies of the bourgeoisie as well as flâneurs and fishwives found their way to his paintings, which all depict a time when the city was experiencing rapid urban development. In the remaining selection of works, Fischer takes us to the older parts of Copenhagen – more specifically to the squares of Kongens Nytorv and Højbro Plads as well as the Gammel Strand street.

With these cityscapes, Fischer tells us about the time period around 1900, when Copenhagen had gotten rid of its encircling ramparts and was turning into a modern metropolis with new means of transportation, crowds of people in the streets and new buildings appearing constantly. The topography is easily recognizable in these works, and as a backdrop for his depictions, Fischer used, as can be seen in the works presented at this auction, the streets and squares from the old part of the city between Kongens Nytorv and the City Hall Square.

 

Auction: 28 May at 4pm (CET) at Bredgade 33 in Copenhagen
Preview: 23-27 May at the same address

View all the paintings by Paul Fischer up for auction
View all the fine art up for auction
Read more about the auction

 

For further information, please contact:

Julie Arendse Voss: +45 8818 1123 · jav@bruun-rasmussen.dk

Birte Stokholm: +45 8818 1122 · bst@bruun-rasmussen.dk

Søren Kjerk Holmstrup: +45 8818 1127 · skh@bruun-rasmussen.dk