L. N. Hvidt 1857

This is C. Simonsen’s lithograph of L. N. Hvidt, now in the Statens Museum for Kunst. This portrait gives us a glimpse into the social and cultural values of 19th-century Denmark. Hvidt, with his formal attire and confident stance, embodies the image of a successful bourgeois man. During this period, Denmark was undergoing significant social and economic changes. The rise of a strong merchant class influenced the visual arts, with portraiture becoming a popular way to represent status and individual achievement. Simonsen’s print also reflects the institutional landscape of art at the time. Lithography, as a printmaking technique, allowed for wider distribution of images, contributing to the democratization of art and visual culture. To understand it better, one might look into archives to learn about the merchant class in Denmark, books about the history of lithography, and exhibition records for Simonsen. All these resources help us to see art as embedded in, and shaped by, its social context.