Artwork
The Artist's Wife by Lamplight
The Artist's Wife by Lamplight is an oil painting by Laurits Andersen Ring. It dates from 1900 and is held in the collection of the Statens Museum for Kunst.
About this work
Subject & Meaning
She is shown beside a table and couch, illuminated by a lamp, with a painting visible within the scene.
The painting portrays the artist's wife, Sigrid Kähler, seated in a domestic interior. She is shown beside a table and couch, illuminated by a lamp, with a painting visible within the scene. Classified as a portrait, the work centers on Kähler as its main subject, framing her within the quiet intimacy of a lamp-lit home rather than a formal studio setting.
The lamplight serves as the central iconographic device, casting a warm glow that isolates the sitter from the surrounding darkness and emphasizes her contemplative presence. By placing a painting within the room alongside Kähler, Ring signals the inseparability of his domestic and artistic life, presenting his wife as both companion and muse. The restrained palette and the focused pool of light evoke Symbolist sensibilities, where the lamp functions as a metaphor for inner reflection and the private, spiritual dimension of marriage.
Technique & Style
Executed in 1898, this portrait is an oil painting on canvas measuring 68 by 87 centimeters. The composition depicts Sigrid Kähler seated indoors, illuminated by the glow of a lamp. Surrounding elements include a table, a couch, and another painting visible within the scene.
The work utilizes the interplay of artificial light and shadow to define the figure and the domestic interior, characteristic of the artist's approach to capturing atmospheric moments.
History & Provenance
The painting The Artist’s Wife by Lamplight (1898) by Laurits Andersen Ring is part of the collection of Statens Museum for Kunst in Copenhagen, where it is recorded under the museum’s standard acquisition documentation; the specific inventory or accession number has not been published in the sources consulted. Exhibition records for the work are not detailed in the available references, and no major exhibitions featuring the piece are documented in the provided materials.
Overview
Laurits Andersen Ring completed The Artist’s Wife by Lamplight in 1900, an oil painting that captures an intimate domestic moment. The work portrays his wife, Sigrid Kähler, seated at a table, engrossed in a book or letter, bathed in the soft glow of a nearby lamp. This piece exemplifies Ring's characteristic focus on everyday life, often imbued with deeper meaning.
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Artist & collection
Artist
Laurits Andersen Ring (Danish pronunciation:; 15 August 1854 – 10 September 1933) was one of the foremost Danish painters of the turn of the 20th century, who pioneered both symbolism and social realism in Denmark.
