View of Bornholm

Painting "View of Bornholm". Canvas, oil. Denmark, 1891. Artist: Christian Vigilius Blache (1838–1920). The painting is signed by the artist. External frame size: 75.5 x 51 cm. Image size: 68.5 x 38 cm. The artwork depicts a seascape in calm weather at sunrise. The foreground shows smooth water, while the middle and background feature rocks and boats. The brushwork is free and thinly painted, with more detail in the depiction of ships and more impasto in the white sections. Bornholm is an island in the southwestern part of the Baltic Sea. The painting has been executed on fine, dense factory-made linen canvas with a machine-applied ground of bluish-gray color. The execution technique is consistent with the late 19th to early 20th-century dating. The signature is located in the lower left corner: Chr. Blache. — painted with black paint on the dried layer. Danish artist Christian Vigilius Blache (1838–1920) is known as a marine painter. Blache studied at the Shipbuilding School in Copenhagen, then continued at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, where he attended the class of marine painter Carl Frederik Sörensen (1818–1879) from 1861 to 1867. From 1863 to 1920, he regularly exhibited his works in the spring shows at Charlottenborg Palace, where he received the Neuhausen Prize in 1865 and 1869, and medals in 1866, 1867, and 1872. To improve his artistic skills, in 1872 Blache traveled through Western Europe, visiting the Netherlands, Belgium, France, Italy, Austria (Vienna), and Germany (Dresden, Berlin). He visited Paris in 1878 and traveled through Iceland in 1887. In 1887 and 1888, he received the Eckersberg Medal for his works. In 1888, he became a member of the Royal Academy and in 1890 joined its Council; his painting "Bergtrup Bay" was acquired by the Royal Museum of Fine Arts. From 1898, Blache became a professor, and from 1892 to 1914 served as Director of the Royal Danish Academy. In 1907–1914, he was the director of the academic exhibitions at Charlottenborg. Blache also participated in international exhibitions in Paris (1878, 1889) and Chicago (1893). Blache belonged to the circle of artists who were among the first to paint en plein air at Skagen, the northernmost point of Jutland, where an artists' colony formed in the late 1870s. Christian Blache’s works, characterized by realistic accuracy, are mostly devoted to seascapes and views of the Danish coast. He preferred to paint the stormy sea, conveying the energy of the elements. However, since the 1890s, his works also include harmonious, tranquil marine views with the romantic light effects of morning or evening. The presented painting belongs to this latter group. Similar compositional, painterly, and stylistic solutions can be seen in such Blache’s works as “Coastal Landscape with Two Sailboats” (signed and dated 1894, canvas, oil, 35 × 27 cm, private collection, Copenhagen, 2010); “Frigate Jutland and Other Vessels” (signed, canvas, oil, 30.5 x 45 cm, private collection, Copenhagen, 2014); “Marine Landscape with Sailboats in a Bay” (signed and dated 1909, canvas, oil, 95 x 142 cm, private collection, London 2013); and “Sailboats near Snekkersten, Denmark” (signed, canvas, oil, 39.5 x 63 cm, London, 2004). Christian Blache’s paintings are kept in art museums in Denmark, including those in Copenhagen, Aarhus, and Skagen. This painting may be regarded as having museum significance, representing high artistic value and considerable antique interest. Prepared by L. Y. Savinskaya, PhD in Art History (Expertise carried out by Senior Research Associate of the Department of Old Masters Art, A.S. Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts, member of the National Organization of Art Experts, Savinskaya L.Y.)