Artwork
Actress Anna Nielsen

Actress Anna Nielsen is an oil painting by the German Romanticist artist Carl Løffler. It dates from 1835 and is held in the collection of the Statens Museum for Kunst.
About this work
Subject & Meaning
The iconography centers on the representation of Nielsen in her professional capacity as a performer, capturing her likeness in oil on canvas.
The work is a portrait depicting the Danish actress Anna Nielsen, created by Carl Løffler in 1835. As a genre painting classified specifically as a portrait, the primary subject is the individual herself, presented without additional narrative scenes or allegorical figures mentioned in the available records. The iconography centers on the representation of Nielsen in her professional capacity as a performer, capturing her likeness in oil on canvas.
The painting serves as a visual document of the actress during the mid-1830s, holding her as the main subject of the composition.
History & Provenance
The portrait of Actress Anna Nielsen was created by Carl Løffler in 1835. Executed in oil paint on canvas, the work depicts the titular subject and is classified within the portrait genre. The painting is currently held in the collection of the Statens Museum for Kunst.
Actress Anna Nielsen is held in the collection of the Statens Museum for Kunst in Denmark, as recorded in the painting's documentation. The work forms part of the museum's holdings of portraits by Carl Løffler, executed in oil on canvas in 1835.
No specific inventory or accession number is provided in the available sources, and no exhibition history is documented.
Context
Carl Løffler painted this portrait in 1835 depicting the actress Anna Nielsen. The work belongs to the portrait genre and was created in oil paint on canvas. It is part of the collection at Statens Museum for Kunst where it remains on display.
Scholars have examined the painting as an example of early Danish portraiture and its representation of theatrical figures in the mid nineteenth century.
The painting's significance lies in its technical execution and its role within Løffler's broader output focusing on contemporary cultural personalities. Its presence in a national museum highlights the institutional recognition of such portraits as important historical records of performance and identity during this period.
Overview
Carl Løffler, a Danish decorative painter active in the early nineteenth century, executed an oil portrait of the actress Anna Nielsen in 1835. The work is part of the Statens Museum for Kunst’s collection and exemplifies the period’s interest in personal expression through portraiture.
Technique & Style
Løffler employs a chiaroscuro scheme, using a deep, unlit background to isolate the sitter. The artist renders the face and hands with a near‑sculptural modeling, creating a sense of three‑dimensionality that draws the viewer’s eye to these expressive features.
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Artist & collection
Artist
Carl Johan Albrecht Løffler (23 July 1810 – 28 July 1853) was a Danish decorative painter. He died in the 1853 Copenhagen cholera outbreak.










