Artwork
A coastline. Amalfi, Italy
A coastline. Amalfi, Italy is an oil painting by the Impressionist artist Theodor Philipsen. It dates from 1890 and is held in the collection of the Statens Museum for Kunst. The work, painted in 1890, is an oil on canvas that captures a Mediterranean shoreline near Amalfi, Italy.
About this work
Subject & Meaning
There is no source-supported symbolic or allegorical reading; the work's meaning lies in its topographical and atmospheric depiction of the Amalfi coast.
The painting depicts a stretch of the Amalfi coastline in southern Italy, presenting a landscape view of the sea meeting a rocky shore with houses visible along the land. Classified as a landscape genre work, it belongs to the tradition of plein-air observation that Philipsen pursued during his travels abroad, capturing the natural and built features of the Mediterranean coast rather than a specific narrative or allegorical subject.
The depicted elements, beach, rock, and house, situate the work within the iconography of coastal landscape painting, where the interplay of sea, geology, and human settlement conveys the character of a particular place. There is no source-supported symbolic or allegorical reading; the work's meaning lies in its topographical and atmospheric depiction of the Amalfi coast.
Technique & Style
The painting is executed in oil paint on canvas, a standard support for late nineteenth-century landscape works. Its dimensions are 295.0 cm in height by 390.0 cm in width, indicating a large-scale composition suited to expansive coastal scenery.
Stylistically, the work belongs to the landscape genre, depicting a beach, rocks, and houses along the Amalfi coastline. The combination of sea, rocky terrain, and built structures suggests a direct observational approach to the Italian coastal environment.
History & Provenance
Theodor Philipsen executed the oil painting A coastline. Amalfi, Italy in 1878. Created on canvas, the work depicts a coastal landscape featuring rocks, a beach, and a house.
The painting entered the collection of the Statens Museum for Kunst, where it remains held. No specific details regarding the original commission or intermediate ownership history prior to its acquisition by the museum are provided in the available records.
The painting A coastline. Amalfi, Italy, created by Theodor Philipsen in 1878, is part of the collection at Statens Museum for Kunst, where it is cataloged under the institution's inventory system. It has been exhibited at the museum, including in displays of Danish landscape painting, though specific exhibition dates are not detailed in the available records.
The work measures 295.0 cm in height and 390.0 cm in width, confirming its substantial scale within the landscape genre.
Overview
The work, painted in 1890, is an oil on canvas that captures a Mediterranean shoreline near Amalfi, Italy. It presents a rugged coast where a modest white house clings to a cliff, a small boat drifts on restless water, and additional structures rise among trees on higher ground. The composition balances natural rock formations with human habitation, offering a glimpse of late‑19th‑century coastal life.
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Artist & collection
Artist
Theodor Esbern Philipsen (10 June 1840 – 3 March 1920) was a Danish painter of Jewish ancestry, known for landscapes and animal portraits. He also did small figures in wax and clay.
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