The Outskirts of Nørrebro 1905

Peter Rostrup Bøyesen made this painting, called 'The Outskirts of Nørrebro', with oil on canvas. Look at the ochre, browns, and greens. There's a kind of quietness to it. You can almost feel Bøyesen building up the image, layer by layer, like a slow conversation. I wonder what Bøyesen was thinking, painting this scene. I mean, here are these two figures, walking arm in arm, a building in the distance, and everything is kind of muted, calm. What I love is the suggestion of a narrative – who are these people? Where are they going? And how does the scene reflect their emotional states? The surface, the way the paint is applied, it's not flashy. It's more about capturing a mood, a moment. There is a stillness, a sense of observation. It reminds me that painting can be a way of really looking, of slowing down, of noticing the world and the people around us. Artists, we're always borrowing, stealing, and riffing off each other, trying to make sense of things.