Artwork
A Showery Landscape. Kalvø Vig, Jutland
A Showery Landscape. Kalvø Vig, Jutland is an oil painting by the Impressionist artist Janus la Cour. It dates from 1892 and is held in the collection of the Statens Museum for Kunst.
About this work
Subject & Meaning
The painting depicts a coastal scene at Kalvø Vig in Jutland under a showery sky, emphasizing the transient effects of light and weather on the landscape.
The painting depicts a coastal scene at Kalvø Vig in Jutland under a showery sky, emphasizing the transient effects of light and weather on the landscape.
The work foregrounds the interaction between sky, sea, and land, using rapid brushwork to convey the movement and mood of an overcast, rainy moment. The depiction aligns with the plein-air tradition of Nordic landscape painting, capturing a specific locale and meteorological condition rather than an idealized view.
Technique & Style
A Showery Landscape. Kalvø Vig, Jutland is executed in oil paint on canvas, a standard medium-and-support combination for late nineteenth-century Nordic landscape painting. The canvas measures 124 cm in height by 192.5 cm in width, giving the work a broad horizontal format suited to an expansive view of the Danish coast at Kalvø Vig.
The composition addresses the atmospheric subject of rain over the Kalvø shoreline, treated as a landscape painting. The work has been exhibited in the survey The Mirror of Nature: Nordic Landscape Painting 1840–1910, a context that situates it within the broader Scandinavian tradition of plein-air and naturalistic landscape practice of the period.
History & Provenance
Janus la Cour executed the oil painting A Showery Landscape. Kalvø Vig, Jutland in 1883. The work depicts a rainy scene at Kalvø and is rendered on canvas with dimensions of 124 cm in height and 192.5 cm in width.
The painting currently resides in the Royal Collection of Paintings and Sculptures, which is held by the Statens Museum for Kunst. Its exhibition history includes a presentation in the show The Mirror of Nature. Nordic Landscape Painting 1840-1910.
No specific details regarding earlier ownership chains, commissions, or the circumstances of its creation are provided in the available records.
A Showery Landscape. Kalvø Vig, Jutland is held by the Statens Museum for Kunst, part of The Royal Collection of Paintings and Sculptures in Copenhagen. The painting was created in 1883 and depicts a rainy scene at Kalvø. It was included in the exhibition titled The Mirror of Nature: Nordic Landscape Painting 1840-1910.
Context
Janus la Cour's A Showery Landscape. Kalvø Vig, Jutland (1883) exemplifies his nuanced approach to Danish landscape painting, capturing atmospheric effects of rain and light within the natural scenery of Jutland. Executed in oil on canvas (124 x 192.5 cm), the work reflects the broader 19th-century Nordic interest in plein-air observation and the expressive rendering of weather, situating it within the trajectory of Romantic-influenced realism in Scandinavian art.
It was featured in the exhibition The Mirror of Nature. Nordic Landscape Painting 1840-1910, reinforcing its significance within contemporary scholarly discourse on the period's landscape traditions.
Legacy
The painting has been featured in major survey exhibitions that highlight the development of Nordic landscape art, most notably "The Mirror of Nature: Nordic Landscape Painting 1840-1910" which included the work alongside contemporaries, underscoring its role in shaping the visual language of rain‑laden scenery. Scholars cite its atmospheric treatment of weather and terrain as an early example of naturalistic observation that influenced later Danish painters seeking to capture the region’s volatile climate. Its inclusion in the Statens Museum for Kunst’s permanent display continues to inform both public and academic discourse on 19th‑century Scandinavian art.
The work is held in the collection of the Statens Museum for Kunst, where it remains accessible for study and exhibition.
Overview
Janus la Cour’s 1892 oil painting, A Showery Landscape. Kalvø Vig, Jutland, is part of the collection at Denmark’s Statens Museum for Kunst. Executed within the impressionist vein, the work records a rain‑laden coastal scene on the western Danish shoreline.
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Artist & collection
Artist
Janus Andreas Bartholin la Cour (5 September 1837 – 13 October 1909) was a Danish painter who is remembered for his landscapes painted in the classical style of the Eckersberg school.
