The Danish painter Kristian Zahrtmann (1843-1917) played a significant role in 19th century Scandinavian art. In his native country, he established a legendary reputation as a painter of scenes from Danish history. But his influence extended even more through his role as a teacher at the "Kunstnernes Frie Studieskoler" that had been founded in Copenhagen in 1882 and was run under the aegis of the artists P.S. Krøyer and Laurits Tuxen. This "Free School" had been established with the intention of providing an alternative curriculum to that taught at the official Royal Academy. It was modern French art that had been a source of inspiration for the founders; Krøyer, for example, had spent a considerable period of time working in France at the studio of Léon Bonnat.
Although Zahrtmann himself had neither studied nor worked there, he was perhaps the most attuned to new currents in art due to his continual travels abroad. He was at any rate best able to pass on enthusiasm for expressionist modernity to his students, many of whom were to become significant avant-garde artists in Denmark.
Our small still life evinces Zahrtmann's interest in building up a composition out of contrasting colour. The pictorial arrangement is kept deliberately simple: two yellow and two red tulips are placed in a slender glass, which its stood on a saucer. The flowers cover the width of the picture plane. The heads of the tulips have started to droop, but they are still full of fiery colour. The green stalks contrast starkly with the dark background behind the flowers. All is left understated, and even the saucer and the table seem almost opaque.
Zahrtmann is clearly playing with the possibilities afforded by a hidden light source. A dab of white paint almost in the centre of the composition indicates some kind of reflection, and the tulip pointing its head farthest away from the viewer is warmly lit in such a way that it is difficult to see whether its crimson glow is inherent or produced by the interplay of light and colour, making its petals appear flamed.
Kristian Zahrtmann was born in 1843 and studied at Copenhagen's Royal Academy between 1864-68. He showed artistic prowess and started participating in the annual Charlottenborg exhibitions in Copenhagen in 1869. In 1885 he became a teacher at the "Free School" and thereafter frequently exhibited abroad. Always interested in the art of antiquity, Zahrtmann travelled to Italy and Greece on numerous occasions, which affirmed his interest in the interplay and compositional possibilities of lurid colours. Zahrtmann was a prodigious worker, showing a particular penchant for history painting, although he also turned his hand to other genres. Still lifes are rare in his oeuvre.
By the time Kristian Zahrtmann died in Frederiksberg in 1917, he had acquired a reputation as one of his country's most significant artistic modernisers.
Although Zahrtmann himself had neither studied nor worked there, he was perhaps the most attuned to new currents in art due to his continual travels abroad. He was at any rate best able to pass on enthusiasm for expressionist modernity to his students, many of whom were to become significant avant-garde artists in Denmark.
Our small still life evinces Zahrtmann's interest in building up a composition out of contrasting colour. The pictorial arrangement is kept deliberately simple: two yellow and two red tulips are placed in a slender glass, which its stood on a saucer. The flowers cover the width of the picture plane. The heads of the tulips have started to droop, but they are still full of fiery colour. The green stalks contrast starkly with the dark background behind the flowers. All is left understated, and even the saucer and the table seem almost opaque.
Zahrtmann is clearly playing with the possibilities afforded by a hidden light source. A dab of white paint almost in the centre of the composition indicates some kind of reflection, and the tulip pointing its head farthest away from the viewer is warmly lit in such a way that it is difficult to see whether its crimson glow is inherent or produced by the interplay of light and colour, making its petals appear flamed.
Kristian Zahrtmann was born in 1843 and studied at Copenhagen's Royal Academy between 1864-68. He showed artistic prowess and started participating in the annual Charlottenborg exhibitions in Copenhagen in 1869. In 1885 he became a teacher at the "Free School" and thereafter frequently exhibited abroad. Always interested in the art of antiquity, Zahrtmann travelled to Italy and Greece on numerous occasions, which affirmed his interest in the interplay and compositional possibilities of lurid colours. Zahrtmann was a prodigious worker, showing a particular penchant for history painting, although he also turned his hand to other genres. Still lifes are rare in his oeuvre.
By the time Kristian Zahrtmann died in Frederiksberg in 1917, he had acquired a reputation as one of his country's most significant artistic modernisers.
Still life with four tulips, 1912
Signed with monogram: KZ 1912 (in ligature)
Oil on cardboard
38 x 49 cm
Provenance
Collection E. Th. Jensen, Denmark;Private collection, Denmark
Literature
H. Chr .Christensen, Kr. Zahrtmann 31 Marts 1843 - 22 Juni 1917. Fortegnelse over hans Malerier, Copenhagen 1917, no. 676S. Danneskjold-Samsœ, Kristian Zahrtmann, Copenhagen 1942, p. 572, no. 1069 (as Fire tulipaner i glas)
The Danish painter Kristian Zahrtmann (1843-1917) played a significant role in 19th century Scandinavian art. In his native country, he established a legendary reputation as a painter of scenes from Danish history. But his influence extended even more through his role as a teacher at the "Kunstnernes Frie Studieskoler" that had been founded in Copenhagen in 1882 and was run under the aegis of the artists P.S. Krøyer and Laurits Tuxen. This "Free School" had been established with the intention of providing an alternative curriculum to that taught at the official Royal Academy. It was modern French art that had been a source of inspiration for the founders; Krøyer, for example, had spent a considerable period of time working in France at the studio of Léon Bonnat.
Although Zahrtmann himself had neither studied nor worked there, he was perhaps the most attuned to new currents in art due to his continual travels abroad. He was at any rate best able to pass on enthusiasm for expressionist modernity to his students, many of whom were to become significant avant-garde artists in Denmark.
Our small still life evinces Zahrtmann's interest in building up a composition out of contrasting colour. The pictorial arrangement is kept deliberately simple: two yellow and two red tulips are placed in a slender glass, which its stood on a saucer. The flowers cover the width of the picture plane. The heads of the tulips have started to droop, but they are still full of fiery colour. The green stalks contrast starkly with the dark background behind the flowers. All is left understated, and even the saucer and the table seem almost opaque.
Zahrtmann is clearly playing with the possibilities afforded by a hidden light source. A dab of white paint almost in the centre of the composition indicates some kind of reflection, and the tulip pointing its head farthest away from the viewer is warmly lit in such a way that it is difficult to see whether its crimson glow is inherent or produced by the interplay of light and colour, making its petals appear flamed.
Kristian Zahrtmann was born in 1843 and studied at Copenhagen's Royal Academy between 1864-68. He showed artistic prowess and started participating in the annual Charlottenborg exhibitions in Copenhagen in 1869. In 1885 he became a teacher at the "Free School" and thereafter frequently exhibited abroad. Always interested in the art of antiquity, Zahrtmann travelled to Italy and Greece on numerous occasions, which affirmed his interest in the interplay and compositional possibilities of lurid colours. Zahrtmann was a prodigious worker, showing a particular penchant for history painting, although he also turned his hand to other genres. Still lifes are rare in his oeuvre.
By the time Kristian Zahrtmann died in Frederiksberg in 1917, he had acquired a reputation as one of his country's most significant artistic modernisers.
Although Zahrtmann himself had neither studied nor worked there, he was perhaps the most attuned to new currents in art due to his continual travels abroad. He was at any rate best able to pass on enthusiasm for expressionist modernity to his students, many of whom were to become significant avant-garde artists in Denmark.
Our small still life evinces Zahrtmann's interest in building up a composition out of contrasting colour. The pictorial arrangement is kept deliberately simple: two yellow and two red tulips are placed in a slender glass, which its stood on a saucer. The flowers cover the width of the picture plane. The heads of the tulips have started to droop, but they are still full of fiery colour. The green stalks contrast starkly with the dark background behind the flowers. All is left understated, and even the saucer and the table seem almost opaque.
Zahrtmann is clearly playing with the possibilities afforded by a hidden light source. A dab of white paint almost in the centre of the composition indicates some kind of reflection, and the tulip pointing its head farthest away from the viewer is warmly lit in such a way that it is difficult to see whether its crimson glow is inherent or produced by the interplay of light and colour, making its petals appear flamed.
Kristian Zahrtmann was born in 1843 and studied at Copenhagen's Royal Academy between 1864-68. He showed artistic prowess and started participating in the annual Charlottenborg exhibitions in Copenhagen in 1869. In 1885 he became a teacher at the "Free School" and thereafter frequently exhibited abroad. Always interested in the art of antiquity, Zahrtmann travelled to Italy and Greece on numerous occasions, which affirmed his interest in the interplay and compositional possibilities of lurid colours. Zahrtmann was a prodigious worker, showing a particular penchant for history painting, although he also turned his hand to other genres. Still lifes are rare in his oeuvre.
By the time Kristian Zahrtmann died in Frederiksberg in 1917, he had acquired a reputation as one of his country's most significant artistic modernisers.
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