The Garden Steps Leading to the Artist's Studio on Blegdammen, Copenhagen 1841 - 1844
christenkobke1
statensmuseumforkunst
paper, canvas
toned paper
abandoned
light earthy tone
possibly oil pastel
paper
canvas
carved into stone
earthy tone
underpainting
watercolour bleed
watercolour illustration
watercolor
This detailed watercolor by Danish artist Christen Købke depicts a scene of quiet domesticity. Completed between 1841 and 1844, “The Garden Steps Leading to the Artist’s Studio on Blegdammen, Copenhagen” shows the steps leading up to Købke’s studio in the Blegdammen district of Copenhagen. With its focus on everyday life, the piece is characteristic of Købke’s work, which often featured precise depictions of landscapes and architecture. The artist’s interest in realism and the meticulous detail he employed in his paintings are readily apparent in this charming work.
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While Købke would usually adhere to the prevalent norms governing the choice of motif and composition in his large, fully finished paintings, he was far more open towards unconventional artistic solutions in the small-scale private studies he painted entirely for his own pleasure. In this painting of garden stairs he evinced an unheard-of boldness in his choice of motif, angle, and cropping, and his manner of painting is much more free than in his large paintings. Even though he was painting his own home, he barely conveys any impression of the house itself; the rambling tree by the stairs is the key element of the painting - alongside, that is, the accurately observed sunlight falling upon the façade and tree, in through a window to end upon the open door. In studies such as this Købke went to greater extremes than any of his contemporary colleagues and the painting has no parallels within the Danish art of the time.
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The motif shows a part of Købke’s parents’ farm, where Købke had his own self-contained flat. The point of view adopted here only offers a limited impression of the house, making the sunlit, sprawling tree the main motif of the painting.After the death of Købke’s father in 1843 Købke stayed at Blegdammen for two years until his mother had to sell the property in 1845. In all likelihood it was around this time that Købke began painting the farmhouse itself. Presumably to have something by which to remember a house that had been his home for twelve years he selected a number of motifs that were closely linked to his everyday life; all of these belong to the part of the house in which he had his own self-contained quarters. One of the scenes painted was this image of the garden steps leading up to his studio. The point of view adopted and the cropping of the motif are both strikingly off-kilter. The gables and stairs are cut off by the edge of the image, and the façade towards the road is heavily foreshortened. The depiction is entirely unrepresentative and offers only a limited impression of what the house looked like; a somewhat confusing choice in light of what we presume Købke’s intentions to have been. It may seem as if the sunlight determined the angle chosen. The gables are in the shade whereas the façade is strongly lit, and rays of sunlight fall upon the garden door and on the lush tree. This gives the sunlight an astonishing intensity. The roof tiles in the left hand side of the painting have not been painted completely in. Perhaps the artist did not have time to finish the painting before moving, which makes 1845 a likely dating. As a companion piece for this painting he also did a canvas of a corner of the house (as viewed from the garden); both paintings have a dark green painted frame, which tells us that they have been hung without frames. According to a note, now lost, on the back of the painting it was the property of the artist’s sister, Juliane Købke, as far back as 1847.
While travelling in Italy Købke achieved a much greater degree of painterly freedom in his studies than before, particularly in his painted studies from Capri (right). These images have a sketch-like quality not found in other Danish painters. Købke’s new style of painting had a knock-on effect on the studies done near his home on Blegdammen after his return from Italy. In the painting of the garden steps he evinces an unheard-of boldness in his choice of motif and angle – and in his cropping of the scene. We barely get an impression of the house; the gnarly tree by the steps is the key element of the painting together with the beautifully observed sunlight hitting the façade and tree, falling in through a window and upon the open door. The painting has no parallel in Danish art of the period.
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