Artwork
The Sulphur Mines at Krýsuvik, Iceland
The Sulphur Mines at Krýsuvik, Iceland is an oil painting by Emanuel Larsen. It dates from 1846 and is held in the collection of the Statens Museum for Kunst.
About this work
Overview
Emanuel Larsen’s 1846 oil painting, *The Sulphur Mines at Krýsuvik, Iceland*, presents a stark, volcanic landscape dominated by a distant mountain range and a modest white structure in the foreground. Clouded skies and muted tones convey the harsh, isolated atmosphere of the Icelandic geothermal region, reflecting the artist’s interest in remote natural settings.
Subject & Meaning
The canvas records the active sulphur extraction sites of 19th‑century Krýsuvik, a locale where volcanic activity and human industry intersect. By foregrounding the modest building against the expansive, rugged terrain, Larsen highlights the precarious balance between natural forces and the labor required to harness them, offering a visual study of industrial intrusion into a wild environment.
Technique & Style
Executed in oil, the work features visible brushwork that lends a tactile surface to the rocky ground and cloudy sky. Larsen employs a restrained palette of grays, browns, and muted greens, allowing subtle contrasts to model forms without the dramatic chiaroscuro of his marine subjects. The overall effect is one of measured realism and atmospheric depth.
History & Provenance
Created during a period when Scandinavian artists increasingly traveled to remote locales, the painting entered the collection of Denmark’s Statens Museum for Kunst, where it remains on display. Its acquisition reflects the museum’s broader effort to document Nordic landscape painting and to preserve works that illustrate the region’s geological and industrial heritage.
Artist & collection
Artist
Carl Frederik Emanuel Larsen usually known as Emanuel Larsen (15 September 1823, Copenhagen – 24 September 1859, Copenhagen) was a Danish painter who specialized in marine painting.
View from Langelinie towards the Royal naval Dockyards at Nyholm, Copenhagen. Morning Light
Aften ved Middelhavet. I baggrunden Marseille og øen If
Kystparti ved Marseille
The Fregate "Niels Juel" near the Main Guard on Nyholm
Ships Off the Coast of Zealand. Morning
The Harbour at Nieuwe Diep in North Holland
Seascape
A ship of the line at anchor
