Artwork
A Fire at Night
A Fire at Night is an oil painting by the Neoclassicist artist Christoffer Wilhelm Eckersberg. It dates from 1807 and is held in the collection of the Statens Museum for Kunst.
About this work
Subject & Meaning
A Fire at Night depicts a conflagration set against a nocturnal landscape, with a windmill visible amid the burning scene.
A Fire at Night depicts a conflagration set against a nocturnal landscape, with a windmill visible amid the burning scene. The pairing of a windmill, a structure traditionally associated with rural industry and the Danish countryside, with a nighttime fire creates a tension between the everyday and the catastrophic. Eckersberg's choice to render a blaze after dark emphasizes dramatic contrasts of light and shadow, with the flames serving as the principal luminous source against the surrounding darkness.
The composition treats fire itself as the central subject, transforming a destructive event into a study of atmospheric effects and visual drama, themes consistent with the artist's early exploration of light and landscape.
Technique & Style
A Fire at Night is executed in oil paint on canvas, a standard support for Eckersberg's early work. The painting is large in scale, measuring 270.0 cm in height by 340.0 cm in width, a format suited to its dramatic nocturnal subject of a conflagration with a windmill. The medium and dimensions reflect the ambitions of early nineteenth-century history painting, where oil on canvas allowed for the layered handling and tonal depth needed to render firelight and atmospheric darkness.
Stylistically, the work belongs to Eckersberg's early period, predating the refined neoclassical idiom he would later develop after his studies abroad. The composition centers on the depicted fire and windmill, treated as a conflagration scene rather than a pure landscape, suggesting an emphasis on dramatic narrative and the play of light against night sky.
History & Provenance
Christoffer Wilhelm Eckersberg created the oil painting A Fire at Night in 1807. The work depicts a conflagration involving a windmill and is executed on canvas. It is currently held in the collection of the Statens Museum for Kunst. The painting measures 270 cm in height and 340 cm in width.
Overview
Christoffer Wilhelm Eckersberg’s 1807 oil painting A Fire at Night portrays a nocturnal blaze set against a rural Danish landscape. The composition centers on a bright flame licking a hill, while a windmill and modest structures frame the scene. The work belongs to the collection of Denmark’s National Gallery of Art, Statens Museum for Kunst, and exemplifies the artist’s early neoclassical phase.
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Artist & collection
Artist
Christoffer Wilhelm Eckersberg
Christoffer Wilhelm Eckersberg (2 January 1783 – 22 July 1853) was a Danish painter.
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