Sjøboder, Lindesnes 1902

This landscape painting of boathouses, or 'Sjøboder', was made in Lindesnes, Norway, by Amaldus Nielsen. I can imagine him there, squinting to see, feeling that damp air, and trying to capture the scene just so. What’s really striking to me is the surface: Nielsen used small brushstrokes to evoke the texture of the wood, water, and rocks. Up close, you see it’s really a mosaic of color and light. When I zoom into the little boats, I see how each one is different – and you can tell how heavy they must be by the way they sit in the water! I just love how painters of his time could take something as simple as a cluster of sheds by the water, and turn it into a quiet, reflective moment. It makes me think of other landscape painters like Courbet or Corot, who were also interested in capturing the quiet beauty of everyday life, each trying to figure out how to be true to the optical sensations they experienced in front of nature.