Nicholas François Habbe

NICHOLAS FRANÇOIS HABBE (Copenhagen, 1827- Sydney, 1889)
"Feeding the chickens".
Oil on canvas.
Signed and dated in the lower right corner.
Measurements: 52 x 45 cm; 66 x 55 cm (frame).
The painting of Nicholas François Habbe presented here, represents a domestic scene full of charm and narrative detail, fully inscribed in the tradition of genre painting of the nineteenth century. In the warm interior of a rural dwelling, a young woman feeds a hen with her brood of chicks, while a small boy, dressed in simple clothes, kneels playfully beside a cat, creating an endearing scene that celebrates everyday life, motherhood, and childlike innocence. The richly atmospheric setting is filled with domestic details: painted furniture, copper kitchen utensils, hanging textiles, an iron stove and carved wood decoration, all meticulously depicted with painstaking realism.
Habbe demonstrates here an extraordinary mastery of the oil technique, with a precise and controlled brushstroke that evidences a clear influence of Nordic and German naturalism, where direct observation of the domestic world becomes a vehicle for artistic expression. The composition is carefully balanced, with an intelligent use of light that allows the faces and gestures, as well as the textures, to stand out:
Habbe, born in Denmark and later moved to Australia, represents with this work a European sensibility that maintains a close link with the Flemish and Germanic tradition, but also with the visual narrative that prevailed in the academies of the 19th century. His painting, without being grandiloquent or monumental, manages to capture the emotional depth of the everyday, through a serene pictorial language, technically rigorous and narratively effective. This work thus stands out not only for its impeccable execution, but also for its ability to turn a domestic scene into an image of profound human resonance.
Nicholas François Habbe studied at the Copenhagen Academy for seven years and then furthered his painting studies in Italy, before arriving in Melbourne in 1855. He was known as a theatrical set designer, portrait painter and allegorical scenographer, and worked in Melbourne between the 1860s and 1880s.