The Beach at Refsnæs, Zealand 1847

Johan Thomas Lundbye painted this oil on canvas titled, The Beach at Refsnæs, Zealand. The image is an exercise in the Danish Golden Age style which attempts to capture the unique light and landscape of Denmark. Notice the placement of the two figures. Lundbye seems to be commenting on the emerging role of landscape painting within the cultural life of Denmark, as it became fashionable for middle-class citizens to take trips to the countryside. In this context, landscape painting served both to document this shift in social practice and to further encourage it, as people sought to experience the scenes depicted in these increasingly popular artworks. To understand the image more fully, we could examine travel journals, social surveys, or even literature from the time, to better understand the changing relationship between urban and rural life in 19th-century Denmark. The meaning of art shifts over time, as the social and institutional context evolves.