La joie de vivre 1887

Curator: Ernst Josephson painted “La Joie de Vivre” in 1887, here at the Statens Museum for Kunst. I’m always drawn to this piece, its mood feels like a memory resurfacing. Editor: It’s incredibly warm. Not just the palette, though those creamy whites and rosy patterns certainly help, but the way the light seems to gather around each of these faces... very comforting. Curator: Comforting, but perhaps with a little wink. Josephson was dabbling in Realism at this point, portraying everyday life, and here, an old man smiles from his sickbed, surrounded by what I assume is his family. The sweetness has an edge though, doesn't it? Editor: Definitely. It’s in the contrast, isn't it? This domestic scene against, what I think, is a political print the child is holding up, there is definitely a story going on beyond the domestic bliss. Note the geometry here. Observe how all figures are placed around a circle and united by smiles and mutual emotion. Curator: Oh, I love that reading. This tension of everyday life contrasted against wider world issues. It makes one wonder exactly *what* joyful scene they are appreciating. In a way the painting anticipates a long-term challenge within domestic genre art and society: how can domestic life respond to larger societal happenings? It also hints, with the painting title, at the complicated intersection between joy and what it covers. Editor: And then you have the faces. Notice how Josephson is interested in texture? See that almost photographic way in which each character in the image presents signs of age and wear: The deep lines and contours are very real and add depth and interest in this interior family portrait. It contrasts beautifully with the flatness of that small reproduction, also held by one of the characters. It looks like he knew about art reproductions. Curator: I’d never thought about that flatness as a point of contrast! Maybe it also alludes to another of his pursuits at this time; spiritualism. Those peering eyes…there is something quietly haunting at the edge of the "joie." I think Josephson captured an intersection here, how fleeting joy can be. Editor: Yes, a reminder that such quiet moments are not divorced from life's complexities. It gives new dimension to that so-called ‘joie’ Curator: Perhaps a kind of acceptance and embrace. Beautiful!