Artwork
Adam and Eve
Adam and Eve is an oil painting by the Symbolist artist Harald Slott-Møller. It dates from 1896 and is held in the collection of the Statens Museum for Kunst.
About this work
Subject & Meaning
The artist's treatment of this traditional theme reflects the continued resonance of biblical subject matter within late 19th-century Danish art.
Harald Slott-Møller's 1891 painting depicts the biblical figures Adam and Eve, the central subjects of the Genesis narrative. The work represents the fall of man, the pivotal moment of primal transgression and its consequences for humanity. As a religious painting, it engages with enduring Christian iconography surrounding temptation, innocence lost, and the origins of sin.
The artist's treatment of this traditional theme reflects the continued resonance of biblical subject matter within late 19th-century Danish art.
Technique & Style
Harald Slott-Møller's Adam and Eve (1891) is executed in oil paint applied to a panel support. The work measures 79 cm in height and 77.8 cm in width, forming a compact religious composition depicting the biblical figures. As a painting created in the late 19th century, the piece is currently held in the collection of the Statens Museum for Kunst.
The medium and support reflect traditional practices for religious art of the period, with the oil paint allowing for the detailed rendering of the subjects' forms and the narrative of the fall of man.
History & Provenance
Harald Slott-Møller created the painting Adam and Eve in 1891, an oil-on-panel work measuring 79 cm by 77.8 cm that depicts the biblical fall of man. The artwork entered the collection of Statens Museum for Kunst, where it remains on display and was featured in the exhibition "From Golden Age to Cobra: 150 years of Danish Art".
The painting is held in the collection of Statens Museum for Kunst, Copenhagen, where it is inventoried as Adam and Eve by Harald Slott-Møller (1891).
It was exhibited in From Golden Age to Cobra: 150 years of Danish Art, a survey that included the work as a key example of late nineteenth-century Danish religious painting.
Overview
Created in 1896, this oil painting presents the biblical pair Adam and Eve standing together in a stark, shadowed setting. The figures are rendered nude, their postures simple yet assertive, set against a dark, bark‑like backdrop that suggests a tree trunk. The composition emphasizes the contrast between light on the bodies and the surrounding gloom, drawing the viewer’s focus to the human forms.
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Artist & collection
Artist
Harald Slott-Møller (Danish:; 17 August 1864 – 20 October 1937) was a Danish painter and ceramist. Together with his wife, the painter Agnes Slott-Møller, he was a founding member of Den Frie Udstilling (The Free Exhibition).
