Artwork
En fisker viser sin datter en bortsejlende båd
En fisker viser sin datter en bortsejlende båd is an oil painting by the Realist artist Christen Dalsgaard. It dates from 1854 and is held in the collection of the Statens Museum for Kunst.
About this work
Overview
Created in 1854 by Danish painter Christen Dalsgaard, a later pupil of Christoffer Wilhelm Eckersberg, this oil work belongs to the realist tradition. It is part of the Statens Museum for Kunst’s holdings and portrays a fisherman indicating a departing vessel to his daughter within a modest interior.
Subject & Meaning
The composition centers on a father and his young daughter inside a dimly lit room. The child, seated and holding a fishing net, looks toward the window where a small boat can be seen pulling away, suggesting themes of daily labor, familial instruction, and the passage of life from one generation to the next.
Technique & Style
Dalsgaard employs a restrained palette and strong chiaroscuro, using the contrast between shadowed interior space and the illuminated window to give depth to the scene. The careful rendering of textures—coats, fabrics, and the net—reflects the realist emphasis on accurate, unidealized depiction of ordinary subjects.
History & Provenance
Since its completion, the painting has remained in Denmark, eventually entering the collection of the National Gallery of Denmark (Statens Museum for Kunst). Its provenance traces directly from the artist’s estate to the museum, where it has been displayed as an example of mid‑nineteenth‑century Danish realism.
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Artist & collection
Artist
Christen Dalsgaard (30 October 1824 – 11 February 1907) was a Danish painter, a late student of Christoffer Wilhelm Eckersberg.
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