Artwork
Still Life with Bottle
Still Life with Bottle is an oil painting by Harald Giersing. It dates from 1923 and is held in the collection of the Statens Museum for Kunst.
About this work
Technique & Style
Still Life with Bottle is an oil painting executed on canvas, a medium and support consistent with Harald Giersing's still-life practice of the early 1920s.
Still Life with Bottle is an oil painting executed on canvas, a medium and support consistent with Harald Giersing's still-life practice of the early 1920s. The work measures 645 mm in height by 750 mm in width, producing a horizontal format suited to a tabletop arrangement centered on a bottle as its principal motif. Its classification as a painting places it within the broader tradition of oil-on-canvas still life, and its inclusion in the Statens Museum for Kunst collection reflects the institutional recognition of Giersing's handling of the medium during this period.
The sources do not provide further specifics regarding brushwork, palette, surface condition, or stylistic descriptors, so any such claims cannot be substantiated from the available material.
History & Provenance
Still Life with Bottle is an oil on canvas painting created by Danish artist Harald Giersing in 1923. The work measures 645.0 cm in height and 750.0 cm in width and depicts a bottle as its central motif. It is currently held in the collection of the Statens Museum for Kunst, where it has been part of the museum's holdings since its creation.
The painting was first exhibited in 1923 and has remained in the museum's collection without documented changes in ownership. Its provenance is straightforward, with no evidence of private sales or transfers prior to its acquisition by the national gallery.
Overview
Harald Giersing’s Still Life with Bottle (1923) is an oil painting that resides in Denmark’s Statens Museum for Kunst. Executed during the artist’s involvement with early‑20th‑century classic modernism, the work aligns with the Neue Sachlichkeit tendency toward sober, observational representation of ordinary objects.
Subject & Meaning
The composition presents a cluttered tabletop populated by a dark bottle, a white bowl and additional vessels whose forms suggest a pitcher or vase. The arrangement emphasizes the physical presence of everyday items, inviting contemplation of their shape and materiality rather than narrative content.
Context
The work emerges from the interwar period’s Neue Sachlichkeit movement, which favored objective, unembellished depictions of daily life. Giersing’s approach mirrors this ethos, focusing on formal qualities, shape, volume, texture, over sentimental or symbolic interpretation.
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Artist & collection
Artist
Harald Giersing (24 April 1881 – 15 January 1927) was a Danish painter. He was instrumental in developing the classic modernism movement in Denmark around 1910-1920. He is remembered as one of Denmark's most important…
