L a - b e a u t é - s a u v e r a - l e - m o n d e ~ D o s t o ï e v s k i

L a - b e a u t é - s a u v e r a - l e - m o n d e ~ D o s t o ï e v s k i



Friday, October 11, 2024

Rooms intimate and lofty, personal and public - two paintings by Johan Vilhelm Gertner

 
A bedroom in Bernstorff Palace near Copenhagen, circa 1845.

Built in the middle of the eighteenth century for Danish foreign minister Count Johann Hartwig Ernst von Bernstorff, by 1842 the building had fallen into neglect and was about to be demolished when King Christian VIII of Denmark purchased it and ordered a complete renovation. Gertner painted the king on several occasions, so one might assume that some degree of familiarity led to the artist being given the opportunity to portray such a private space.


*

Thorvaldsen's Studio in the Royal Academy of Fine Arts, Copenhagen, 1836.

The studio in question was that of the celebrated Danish neo-classical sculptor Bertel Thorvaldsen. He was considered one of the greatest sculptors of his time, regarded as the successor of Antonio Canova. Mainly resident in Italy - he maintained a large workshop in Rome - he made a final triumphant return to Denmark in 1838, only six years before his death at the age of seventy-three.




Posted by at
Labels: , ,

2 comments:

  1. AnonymousOctober 24, 2024 at 10:10 PM

    Tror rosa, think pink :)
    Gertner hadde spenn i å male interiør, fra det delikate rosa rommet til atelieret til Thorvaldsen, dansk skulpturmester, og et glimt av hans fineste verk.
    *OsloSson

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. StephiliusOctober 25, 2024 at 10:38 AM

      Tror rosa, indeed! It's such a remarkable painting.

      Delete

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)