Fritz Staerhr-Olsen

FRITZ STAEHR-OLSEN (Denmark, 1858 - 1922)
"Mill",1896.
Oil on panel.
It has a 19th century frame with faults.
Signed in the lower right corner and signed in the lower left corner.
Measurements. 59,5 x 48 cm, 73 x 61 cm (frame).
Painting by Fritz Staehr-Olsen representing a landscape dominated by a large mill is a remarkable example of the landscape sensibility developed in the Nordic tradition of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. Under a clear and vibrant daylight, the artist unfolds a serene scene in which the figure of the mill, imposing in scale and carefully centered in the composition, acts as the structural and symbolic axis of the painting. The luminous atmosphere, characteristic of Scandinavian painting of the period, bathes the landscape in warm, natural tones, accentuating the contrast between the wooden architecture of the mill and the expanse of the surrounding terrain.
From the technical point of view, the work stands out for its sure and clear brushstrokes, with a palette dominated by ochers and blues, which reveal the painter's interest in the realistic capture of light and atmosphere. The precision in the drawing of the mill and the subtlety in the treatment of the terrain and vegetation reveal an attentive eye for detail and a fidelity to the natural model that are fully inscribed in the naturalist aesthetic.
The choice of the mill as the central theme is also part of a broader pictorial current that, throughout the 19th century, found in these rural motifs not only a source of national identity but also a means to explore the social and technical transformations of the landscape.