Artwork
A Showery Landscape. Kalvø Vig, Jutland
A Showery Landscape. Kalvø Vig, Jutland is an oil painting by the Impressionist artist Janus la Cour. It dates from 1892 and is held in the collection of the Statens Museum for Kunst.
About this work
Overview
Janus la Cour’s 1892 oil painting, *A Showery Landscape. Kalvø Vig, Jutland*, is part of the collection at Denmark’s Statens Museum for Kunst. Executed within the impressionist vein, the work records a rain‑laden coastal scene on the western Danish shoreline.
Subject & Meaning
The canvas captures a storm‑swept shore where jagged rocks meet a tranquil sea beneath a low, brooding sky. Heavy clouds dominate the horizon, yet a sliver of sunlight pierces the gloom on the left, suggesting a fleeting moment of calm amid the weather’s turbulence.
Technique & Style
La Cour employs a loose, impressionistic brushwork, allowing color and form to suggest rather than delineate. Thick applications of paint—particularly in the sky—create a tactile surface that heightens the sense of atmospheric pressure, while softer passages convey the misty distance of trees and hills.
History & Provenance
Painted in the early 1890s, the work reflects La Cour’s affiliation with the Eckersberg school, a Danish tradition that emphasized careful observation of nature. After its creation, the painting entered the national collection, where it remains on view at the Statens Museum for Kunst.
Context
The piece belongs to a period when Danish artists were integrating French impressionist techniques with local landscape traditions. La Cour’s focus on a specific, weather‑affected locale illustrates the broader 19th‑century interest in capturing fleeting light and atmospheric conditions.
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Artist & collection
Artist
Janus Andreas Bartholin la Cour (5 September 1837 – 13 October 1909) was a Danish painter who is remembered for his landscapes painted in the classical style of the Eckersberg school.
