Artwork
Winter Night in a Forest
Winter Night in a Forest is an oil painting by Vilhelm Kyhn. It dates from 1853 and is held in the collection of the Statens Museum for Kunst.
About this work
Subject & Meaning
Winter Night in a Forest by Vilhelm Kyhn is a landscape painting that depicts a forest blanketed in snow, rendered in oil on canvas.
Winter Night in a Forest by Vilhelm Kyhn is a landscape painting that depicts a forest blanketed in snow, rendered in oil on canvas. The subject belongs to the tradition of Nordic winter landscape painting, in which dense woodland and nocturnal atmosphere are used to evoke the stillness and harshness of the northern winter. By focusing on snow-covered trees rather than human figures, the work emphasizes the forest itself as the central motif, presenting nature as a quiet, enveloping presence rather than a backdrop for narrative action.
The painting's meaning lies in this atmospheric immersion: the dark forest and snow together suggest the silence and isolation of a winter night, a recurring theme in 19th-century Danish landscape art that sought to capture the mood of the Scandinavian natural environment.
Technique & Style
Executed in oil on canvas, the work measures 130.5 cm in height and 196.5 cm in width. The handling emphasizes a subdued, nocturnal palette dominated by dark greens and blues, punctuated by the white of snow and the faint glow of moonlight filtering through the trees. Kyhn’s brushwork is broad yet controlled, with layered glazes building atmospheric depth in the forest interior.
The composition arranges vertical trunks and horizontal snow cover to create a rhythmic, almost musical balance between stillness and implied silence.
History & Provenance
Winter Night in a Forest was created in 1853 by the Danish landscape painter Vilhelm Kyhn. Executed in oil on canvas, the work measures 130.5 cm in height and 196.5 cm in width and depicts a snow‑covered forest scene. According to the available records, the painting entered the collection of the Statens Museum for Kunst in Copenhagen, where it remains today. No earlier provenance, commission, or ownership details are documented in the sources provided.
Vilhelm Kyhn's 1853 oil painting Winter Night in a Forest is held in the collection of the Statens Museum for Kunst in Copenhagen. The work is part of the museum's permanent holdings, which include landscape paintings depicting snowy forest scenes. No specific inventory or accession number is provided in the available records, nor is there documented exhibition history for this piece in the current sources.
Overview
Vilhelm Kyhn’s Winter Night in a Forest (1853) is an oil painting that captures a tranquil, snow‑laden woodland at dusk. The composition centers on a frozen river flanked by skeletal trees, with distant rooftops and a sled‑bound pair of figures near the water’s edge. The work is part of the Statens Museum for Kunst’s permanent collection.
Context
Kyhn’s career was marked by a commitment to academic training and the establishment of art schools, including institutions for women artists. Winter Night in a Forest exemplifies his dedication to depicting Danish scenery with fidelity, reinforcing the national identity themes prevalent in his contemporaries’ work while resisting the avant‑garde tendencies of his time.
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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.
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