View from Bokul, Gudhjem

Stevns applied oil in thick, impasto layers, allowing the brushwork to remain loose and expressive. This tactile approach creates surface texture that adds depth to the foliage and sky. The overall handling reflects a simplified, almost decorative manner, a legacy of his earlier work on Viborg Cathedral where early Christian and Byzantine motifs informed a restrained visual language.

After its completion, the painting entered the collection of Denmark’s National Gallery, Statens Museum for Kunst, where it remains on display. Stevns, originally trained as a journeyman before studying at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, had previously assisted Joakim Skovgaard on the cathedral’s decoration, an experience that shaped his later landscape practice.