Object Image

A View of Lake Sortedam from Dosseringen Looking towards the Suburb Nørrebro outside Copenhagen

The painting was created at a time when national sentiments grew greatly in strength and scope. Indeed, the work cultivates the atmospheric and the romantic, while the flag accentuates the fact that we are looking at a Danish suburban landscape.

On a quiet summer night two young women stand on a bridge looking at a rowing boat slowly moving away on the lake. There is no defined narrative staged here, but nevertheless a story is told. It is a story without words or action; an atmospheric moment striking up a theme of departure and separation. The prosaic fact that the party could not have travelled very far away on the tiny lake has no impact on the message conveyed by the image.

Despite its r...

1838
Oil on canvas
53.0 x 71.5cm
KMS359
Images and text © National Gallery of Denmark, 2018

Where you'll find this