Artwork
Composition with Hyacinth, Fruits and Blue Bowl
Composition with Hyacinth, Fruits and Blue Bowl is an oil painting by the Fauvist artist Karl Isakson. It dates from 1911 and is held in the collection of the Statens Museum for Kunst.
About this work
Subject & Meaning
Composition with Hyacinth, Fruits and Blue Bowl is a still‑life painting that presents a hyacinth blossom alongside assorted fruit arranged in a blue bowl.
Composition with Hyacinth, Fruits and Blue Bowl is a still‑life painting that presents a hyacinth blossom alongside assorted fruit arranged in a blue bowl. The work belongs to the still‑life genre, focusing on the careful observation of natural objects and domestic vessels. By placing the fragrant flower, ripe produce, and the ceramic container together, Isakson creates a quiet tableau that emphasizes texture, colour, and the simple beauty of everyday items.
Technique & Style
Executed in oil paint on canvas, the work measures 61.0 cm in height and 53.5 cm in width. The handling is characterized by a restrained, planar approach to still-life composition, with objects arranged in a shallow, stage-like space. Color is applied in broad, evenly modulated areas, avoiding visible brushwork and emphasizing the quiet interplay of muted hues.
The palette features a dominant blue bowl set against softer ochers and greens, while the hyacinth’s delicate petals introduce a refined linear accent. The overall tonality remains subdued, aligning with the artist’s muted chromatic language of the period.
No specific condition remarks are recorded in the sources.
History & Provenance
Karl Isakson created the oil painting Composition with Hyacinth, Fruits and Blue Bowl in 1911. The work is classified as a still life depicting fruit and hyacinths. It is currently held in the collection of the Statens Museum for Kunst. The painting measures 61 cm in height and 53.5 cm in width.
Composition with Hyacinth, Fruits and Blue Bowl is held in the collection of the Statens Museum for Kunst. The institution maintains the work at its primary location in Copenhagen. Created in 1911, the oil painting on canvas measures 610.0 cm in height and 535.0 cm in width.
The provided sources confirm the artwork's classification as a still life depicting fruit, but do not list a specific inventory number or detail any past exhibitions.
Overview
Created in 1911 by Swedish painter Karl Isakson, Composition with Hyacinth, Fruits and Blue Bowl is an oil on canvas still‑life that resides in the Statens Museum for Kunst. The work exemplifies the early modernist tendencies that Isakson helped introduce to Danish art, combining a straightforward tabletop setting with a vivid, decorative palette.
Context
Isakson’s career unfolded largely in Denmark, where he became a pivotal figure in the country’s shift toward modernism. The painting’s Fauvist traits align it with broader European experiments in colour and form that were reshaping the still‑life genre in the early twentieth century.
Artist & collection
Artist
Karl Oscar Isakson (16 January 1878, in Stockholm – 19 February 1922) was a Swedish painter who spent much of his professional life in Denmark where he is considered to be one of the fathers of Modernism.
