Farm Building in the Sun 1846

Johan Thomas Lundbye painted this small oil on canvas, Farm Building in the Sun, sometime in the 1840s, during Denmark's Golden Age. This was a period of national romanticism. Artists looked to the local landscape and the lives of ordinary people for inspiration. Here, Lundbye gives us a simple farm building. It is bathed in sunlight and surrounded by lush greenery. The thatched roof and white-washed walls evoke a sense of rural idyll. But it is worth asking whether this image presents an idealized view of country life. How did the rapid social and economic changes of the time affect the lives of farmers? Did class divisions play a part in shaping this image? To answer these questions, we can turn to sources such as historical records, literature, and social commentary. By studying these, we can understand the complex social and institutional forces that influenced Lundbye's artistic production.