Italiensk hus og cypres 1893 - 1895

L.A. Ring made this small pencil drawing, ‘Italian House and Cypress,’ at an unknown date. Ring was a Danish painter known for his Realist and Symbolist landscapes, so why did he choose to draw a house in Italy? From a social history perspective, it’s interesting to consider the cultural institutions that encouraged artists like Ring to travel south. During the late 19th and early 20th centuries, many Northern European artists visited Italy. The art academies often promoted study of the antique, as well as Renaissance art and architecture. The drawing shows a simple building and a tall cypress tree, rendered with delicate lines. Was Ring studying the effects of the Mediterranean light or searching for classical forms? Or perhaps he was trying to escape the social realities of Denmark? Art history provides the means to place this drawing within a wider cultural and institutional context, understanding it as more than just a landscape study.