This rather attractive landscape shows the Danish painter Janus la Cour (1837-1909) at his best. It depicts a path along the lake of Lugano, Switzerland, with the Monte San Salvatore in the background. The artist has managed to capture the setting sun perfectly, with the yellow light of a sunny day fading as evening sets in. The tree straddling the path in the foreground rises majestically, as the haziness of the temperate climate almost tangibly covers the hilly scenery on the other side of the water. Apart from a few houses, and the odd little boat along the foot of the mountain, there is no sign of life anywhere.
What makes this painting special is the sense of peacefulness and longing that one experiences when standing in front of it. Technically, La Cour was probably one of the best painters of his generation. The interplay between shadow and light, so clearly on show here, speaks volumes about his technical finesse as a painter. The way in which the tree and the branch extending at the lower left protrude out across the painting has the effect of silhouetting the canvas, which provides a sense of nearness to nature, whilst at the same time reminding us of the vastness of the land that lies beyond.
Janus la Cour spent a lot of his time painting in his native region around Aarhus, in Jutland. But he also sought out foreign climes, and traversed across Europe a great deal of the time, painting in France, Italy and Switzerland. In fact, our work appears to have been commissioned. The Danish collector Hvidt had spent his honeymoon in Lugano in 1868, and a few years later he and his wife asked La Cour to produce a painting of the locality to remind them of their first married moments together. La Cour duly travelled to Lugano in 1871, where he commenced work on this painting, finishing it in 1872. It was shown in an exhibition of La Cour's art in 1873, although probably not for sale, but merely as an example of his remarkable ability [1].
Born in 1837, Janus la Cour spent much of his youth near Aarhus. Between 1857 and 1864 he attended the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Copenhagen and for part of this period lived with the great Danish landscape painter P.C. Skovgaard (1817-75). Despite the age gap, the two men remained lifelong friends. Skovgaard introduced La Cour to the intricacies of landscape art, although La Cour was always less of a romanticist than his mentor sometimes tended to be. La Cour found endless fascination in nature, with its subtle shifts of mood and emotion, and was not interested in idealizing or romanticising nature and landscape.
Unmarried, and not short of funds, La Cour dedicated himself solely to his art. He developed his oeuvre throughout the 1870s, 80s and 90s, and, although towards the end of his career he experimented with a looser touch, he always eschewed radical changes in style. By the time he died in 1909 he had participated in international exhibitions in Stockholm, Berlin, Vienna, Munich, Paris, Chicago and London. Today his work is represented in all the important Scandinavian museums, with the AROS Kunstmuseum at Aarhus holding the most impressive collection of his works.
Although not a household name internationally, La Cour has many admirers in surprising places. For example, the Danish expressionist artist Per Kirkeby (1938-2018) and the German bestselling author Florian Illies were and are fans of La Cour's work.
___________________________
1. The Hirschsprung Collection in Copenhagen also owns a painting by La Cour with a motif from Lugano: see Inv. nr. RM 269.
What makes this painting special is the sense of peacefulness and longing that one experiences when standing in front of it. Technically, La Cour was probably one of the best painters of his generation. The interplay between shadow and light, so clearly on show here, speaks volumes about his technical finesse as a painter. The way in which the tree and the branch extending at the lower left protrude out across the painting has the effect of silhouetting the canvas, which provides a sense of nearness to nature, whilst at the same time reminding us of the vastness of the land that lies beyond.
Janus la Cour spent a lot of his time painting in his native region around Aarhus, in Jutland. But he also sought out foreign climes, and traversed across Europe a great deal of the time, painting in France, Italy and Switzerland. In fact, our work appears to have been commissioned. The Danish collector Hvidt had spent his honeymoon in Lugano in 1868, and a few years later he and his wife asked La Cour to produce a painting of the locality to remind them of their first married moments together. La Cour duly travelled to Lugano in 1871, where he commenced work on this painting, finishing it in 1872. It was shown in an exhibition of La Cour's art in 1873, although probably not for sale, but merely as an example of his remarkable ability [1].
Born in 1837, Janus la Cour spent much of his youth near Aarhus. Between 1857 and 1864 he attended the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Copenhagen and for part of this period lived with the great Danish landscape painter P.C. Skovgaard (1817-75). Despite the age gap, the two men remained lifelong friends. Skovgaard introduced La Cour to the intricacies of landscape art, although La Cour was always less of a romanticist than his mentor sometimes tended to be. La Cour found endless fascination in nature, with its subtle shifts of mood and emotion, and was not interested in idealizing or romanticising nature and landscape.
Unmarried, and not short of funds, La Cour dedicated himself solely to his art. He developed his oeuvre throughout the 1870s, 80s and 90s, and, although towards the end of his career he experimented with a looser touch, he always eschewed radical changes in style. By the time he died in 1909 he had participated in international exhibitions in Stockholm, Berlin, Vienna, Munich, Paris, Chicago and London. Today his work is represented in all the important Scandinavian museums, with the AROS Kunstmuseum at Aarhus holding the most impressive collection of his works.
Although not a household name internationally, La Cour has many admirers in surprising places. For example, the Danish expressionist artist Per Kirkeby (1938-2018) and the German bestselling author Florian Illies were and are fans of La Cour's work.
___________________________
1. The Hirschsprung Collection in Copenhagen also owns a painting by La Cour with a motif from Lugano: see Inv. nr. RM 269.
Evening at Lugano, 1872
Signed lower right J. la Cour 1872
Oil on canvas
83 x 109 cm
Provenance
Collection N.L. Hvidt, Denmark;
Thence by descent;
Auction Bruun Rasmussen, Copenhagen, 25 February 2014;
Private collection, England.
Exhibitions
Charlottenborg 1873, nr. 47
Literature
Rikard Magnussen, Landskabsmaleren Janus la Cour. 1837-1909, Copenhagen 1928, p. 167, nr. 290 (as Aften ved Lugano).
This rather attractive landscape shows the Danish painter Janus la Cour (1837-1909) at his best. It depicts a path along the lake of Lugano, Switzerland, with the Monte San Salvatore in the background. The artist has managed to capture the setting sun perfectly, with the yellow light of a sunny day fading as evening sets in. The tree straddling the path in the foreground rises majestically, as the haziness of the temperate climate almost tangibly covers the hilly scenery on the other side of the water. Apart from a few houses, and the odd little boat along the foot of the mountain, there is no sign of life anywhere.
What makes this painting special is the sense of peacefulness and longing that one experiences when standing in front of it. Technically, La Cour was probably one of the best painters of his generation. The interplay between shadow and light, so clearly on show here, speaks volumes about his technical finesse as a painter. The way in which the tree and the branch extending at the lower left protrude out across the painting has the effect of silhouetting the canvas, which provides a sense of nearness to nature, whilst at the same time reminding us of the vastness of the land that lies beyond.
Janus la Cour spent a lot of his time painting in his native region around Aarhus, in Jutland. But he also sought out foreign climes, and traversed across Europe a great deal of the time, painting in France, Italy and Switzerland. In fact, our work appears to have been commissioned. The Danish collector Hvidt had spent his honeymoon in Lugano in 1868, and a few years later he and his wife asked La Cour to produce a painting of the locality to remind them of their first married moments together. La Cour duly travelled to Lugano in 1871, where he commenced work on this painting, finishing it in 1872. It was shown in an exhibition of La Cour's art in 1873, although probably not for sale, but merely as an example of his remarkable ability [1].
Born in 1837, Janus la Cour spent much of his youth near Aarhus. Between 1857 and 1864 he attended the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Copenhagen and for part of this period lived with the great Danish landscape painter P.C. Skovgaard (1817-75). Despite the age gap, the two men remained lifelong friends. Skovgaard introduced La Cour to the intricacies of landscape art, although La Cour was always less of a romanticist than his mentor sometimes tended to be. La Cour found endless fascination in nature, with its subtle shifts of mood and emotion, and was not interested in idealizing or romanticising nature and landscape.
Unmarried, and not short of funds, La Cour dedicated himself solely to his art. He developed his oeuvre throughout the 1870s, 80s and 90s, and, although towards the end of his career he experimented with a looser touch, he always eschewed radical changes in style. By the time he died in 1909 he had participated in international exhibitions in Stockholm, Berlin, Vienna, Munich, Paris, Chicago and London. Today his work is represented in all the important Scandinavian museums, with the AROS Kunstmuseum at Aarhus holding the most impressive collection of his works.
Although not a household name internationally, La Cour has many admirers in surprising places. For example, the Danish expressionist artist Per Kirkeby (1938-2018) and the German bestselling author Florian Illies were and are fans of La Cour's work.
___________________________
1. The Hirschsprung Collection in Copenhagen also owns a painting by La Cour with a motif from Lugano: see Inv. nr. RM 269.
What makes this painting special is the sense of peacefulness and longing that one experiences when standing in front of it. Technically, La Cour was probably one of the best painters of his generation. The interplay between shadow and light, so clearly on show here, speaks volumes about his technical finesse as a painter. The way in which the tree and the branch extending at the lower left protrude out across the painting has the effect of silhouetting the canvas, which provides a sense of nearness to nature, whilst at the same time reminding us of the vastness of the land that lies beyond.
Janus la Cour spent a lot of his time painting in his native region around Aarhus, in Jutland. But he also sought out foreign climes, and traversed across Europe a great deal of the time, painting in France, Italy and Switzerland. In fact, our work appears to have been commissioned. The Danish collector Hvidt had spent his honeymoon in Lugano in 1868, and a few years later he and his wife asked La Cour to produce a painting of the locality to remind them of their first married moments together. La Cour duly travelled to Lugano in 1871, where he commenced work on this painting, finishing it in 1872. It was shown in an exhibition of La Cour's art in 1873, although probably not for sale, but merely as an example of his remarkable ability [1].
Born in 1837, Janus la Cour spent much of his youth near Aarhus. Between 1857 and 1864 he attended the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Copenhagen and for part of this period lived with the great Danish landscape painter P.C. Skovgaard (1817-75). Despite the age gap, the two men remained lifelong friends. Skovgaard introduced La Cour to the intricacies of landscape art, although La Cour was always less of a romanticist than his mentor sometimes tended to be. La Cour found endless fascination in nature, with its subtle shifts of mood and emotion, and was not interested in idealizing or romanticising nature and landscape.
Unmarried, and not short of funds, La Cour dedicated himself solely to his art. He developed his oeuvre throughout the 1870s, 80s and 90s, and, although towards the end of his career he experimented with a looser touch, he always eschewed radical changes in style. By the time he died in 1909 he had participated in international exhibitions in Stockholm, Berlin, Vienna, Munich, Paris, Chicago and London. Today his work is represented in all the important Scandinavian museums, with the AROS Kunstmuseum at Aarhus holding the most impressive collection of his works.
Although not a household name internationally, La Cour has many admirers in surprising places. For example, the Danish expressionist artist Per Kirkeby (1938-2018) and the German bestselling author Florian Illies were and are fans of La Cour's work.
___________________________
1. The Hirschsprung Collection in Copenhagen also owns a painting by La Cour with a motif from Lugano: see Inv. nr. RM 269.
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