Artwork
Study of a Moor
Study of a Moor is an oil painting by the Realist artist Frederik Vermehren. It dates from 1854 and is held in the collection of the Statens Museum for Kunst.
About this work
Technique & Style
Frederik Vermehren's Study of a Moor, executed in 1854, is an oil painting on canvas. The work measures 42 cm in height and 65 cm in width. Despite its English title, the subject is a moorland: it depicts a heath landscape featuring heather (Erica), a burial tumulus, and a cloud-filled sky. The painting is currently held in the collection of the Statens Museum for Kunst.
History & Provenance
Despite its title, the work is a landscape depicting a Danish moor or heath, with heather, a burial tumulus, and a clouded sky.
Study of a Moor is an oil-on-canvas painting created by Frederik Vermehren in 1854. Despite its title, the work is a landscape depicting a Danish moor or heath, with heather, a burial tumulus, and a clouded sky. It is held by the Statens Museum for Kunst in Copenhagen, where it measures 42 cm in height by 65 cm in width.
The available source does not record a commission, earlier ownership, or any intermediate transfers prior to the museum's holding of the work, nor any exhibition history beyond its presence in the collection.
Overview
Frederik Vermehren’s oil painting Study of a Moor, executed in 1854, is a realist work that portrays a solitary figure within an expansive heath landscape. The canvas is part of the permanent collection of Denmark’s Statens Museum for Kunst.
Subject & Meaning
The central figure, identified as a Moor, stands before a broad, open terrain of heather and scattered bare branches. The composition places the individual against a muted sky, suggesting a contemplative relationship between the person and the surrounding natural environment.
Context
In the mid‑19th century, Danish artists increasingly turned to genre scenes that highlighted ordinary people and local landscapes. Vermehren’s depiction of a Moor, a figure outside the typical Danish peasantry, adds a nuanced dimension to this national narrative, inviting viewers to consider broader cultural encounters.
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Artist & collection
Artist
Johan Frederik (Frits) Nikolai Vermehren, also known as Frederik Vermehren (12 May 1823 – 10 January 1910), a genre and portrait painter in the realist style.
