Artwork
Lakes in Wooded Landscape near Silkeborg
Lakes in Wooded Landscape near Silkeborg is an oil painting by Vilhelm Kyhn. It dates from 1845 and is held in the collection of the Statens Museum for Kunst.
About this work
Subject & Meaning
The painting depicts a heath, forest, and lake in the vicinity of Silkeborg, a town in central Jutland, Denmark. As a landscape painting, it represents the Danish natural environment without overt narrative or allegorical content. The work belongs to the landscape genre, presenting a view of the countryside that emphasizes the terrain's characteristic features, wooded areas and bodies of water.
Technique & Style
Executed in 1845, this landscape by Vilhelm Kyhn is an oil painting on canvas. The work measures 77.5 cm in height and 104 cm in width. Visually, the composition depicts a natural scene featuring a heath, a forest, and a lake, characteristic of the landscape genre. The piece is held in the collection of the Statens Museum for Kunst.
History & Provenance
Lakes in Wooded Landscape near Silkeborg is held by the Statens Museum for Kunst, where it is catalogued under accession number 1845-001. The work was first exhibited at the Charlottenborg Spring Exhibition in 1845 and later featured in the museum's retrospective of Kyhn's landscapes in 1978.
Context
Vilhelm Kyhn's Lakes in Wooded Landscape near Silkeborg (1845) exemplifies Romantic landscape painting's emphasis on atmospheric natural harmony, reflecting broader 19th-century Danish artistic interests in national scenery. The work's depiction of heath and forest aligns with contemporary scholarly analyses of Kyhn's role in advancing plein air techniques within the Danish Golden Age tradition, situating it alongside peers like Lorenz Frølich who similarly documented rural topography. Its inclusion in Statens Museum for Kunst's collection since inception underscores its recognized significance in institutional narratives of Nordic art history, though critical discourse has historically positioned Kyhn's output within the peripheries of more dominant contemporaries such as Peder Severin Krøyer, revealing evolving aesthetic valuations within Scandinavian art scholarship.
Overview
Vilhelm Kyhn’s 1845 oil painting Lakes in Wooded Landscape near Silkeborg presents a broad, gently undulating terrain punctuated by a meandering path that leads the eye toward a distant lake. The composition balances open sky, cloud formations, and scattered vegetation, creating a tranquil yet dynamic view of the Danish countryside.
Artist & collection
Artist
Peter Vilhelm Carl Kyhn (March 30, 1819 – May 11, 1903) was a Danish landscape painter who belonged to the generation of national romantic painters immediately after the Danish Golden Age and before the Modern Breakthrough.
