Follower of Carl Holsoe, 20th century.

Follower of CARL HOLSOE (Aarhus, 1863-Asserbo, 1935), 20th century.
"Woman on her back serving tea".
Oil on canvas.
Signed "C. Holsöe" in the lower right corner.
Measurements: 73 x 60 cm; 86,5 x 74 cm (frame).

This painting recreates the intimate and silent spirit of Carl Holsoe's paintings. In a room of warm tones and bare walls, a woman with her back turned becomes the center of the scene. Her white dress, long and light, reveals the subtlety of the transparencies on the sleeves, delicately capturing the light. Her hair in a tight bun gives a sense of stillness and seclusion.

The furniture (a table and a chest of drawers made of dark wood, possibly mahogany) dialogues with the figure in a balanced way, providing the compositional sense characteristic of the artist. Above the furniture, a few objects: a vase of flowers, an oil lamp, a tureen and a fountain evoke domestic life without breaking the atmosphere of contemplation. The light, soft and diffused, enters from a point outside the painting and rests on the wall, enveloping the woman in a halo that highlights her presence without revealing her identity.

Everything in the scene transmits a suspended time, where intimacy, order and silence become invisible protagonists, faithful to the slow and melancholic world that Holsoe knew how to capture with mastery.

An artist specializing in domestic interior scenes, Carl Holsoe studied at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts in Copenhagen (1882-1884) and then at the Kunstnernes Frie Studieskoler with Peder Severin Krøyer. He received several stipends from the academy, in one case to visit Italy in 1897. He made his debut at the December 1886 Exhibition in Charlottenborg. From 1888 to 1910 and from 1922 to 1933 he exhibited at the Charlottenborg Spring Exhibition, and in 1909 and 1914 at the Autumn Exhibition. He participated in the Association of National Art Exhibitions and was a member of the board of the Gammel Strand Art Association from 1902 to 1905 and from 1909 to 1911. He received numerous awards, including the gold medal in Munich. His style was acclaimed by the Danish critics of the time, who even compared him to the Dutch masters of the 18th century.