Carl Holsøe

Original canvas. There are scattered lines of infilling overall to the painted surface, partially obscured under a varnish, visible under ultraviolet light. Apart from a pinhole to each corner of the canvas and fine craquelure scattered throughout, the work is in good condition. Held in a decorative, gold-painted moulded plaster and wood frame.
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NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

The sense of mood, heightened by the dramatic infiltration of daylight, imbues the present work with mystery, gravity and serenity. The seated woman gazes thoughtfully through the window, creating a soft and pensive atmosphere in which the figure is an object amongst others, another element within an evocative domestic interior. The elegant austerity of the scene is softened by the emotional content and feathered brushwork, and mitigated by the warm slant of the sun through the windowpanes.

Drawing away from the sentimentality of Golden Age interiors, Holsøe and his contemporaries imbued this traditional genre with a sense of timeless sanctity. Through the solitary, usually female, figures with their concealed identity, Holsøe's paintings evoke the brooding nature of introspection and self-absorption. This view of domestic tranquillity was preceded and influenced by the 17^th Century interiors of the Dutch masters Vermeer, de Hooch, and ter Borch, and Holsøe would be joined by the Danish leading lights Hammershøi and Ilsted in his exploration of the emotional content inherent in the household interior.