Sell what you have plenty of Buy now - Bruun Rasmussen

31
P. C. Skovgaard
b. Ringsted 1817, d. Copenhagen 1875
View of the Cliffs of Møn. Signed and dated P. C. Skovgaard (in
one word) 1852. Oil on canvas. 126 x 190 cm.
Not many Danish painters had the ability, like P. C. Skovgaard, to paint
the magnificent and dramatic Danish nature. A very good example of this
can been seen in the present painting from the Cliffs of Møn.
P. C. Skovgaard was very fascinated by the nature of Møn and he often returned
to this specific place with the vertical white cliffs, and from there he
painted a number of sketches as well as minor and larger paintings as this
one. In 2007 a storm unfortunately damaged the cliffs so this specific
view is no longer to be seen.
P. C. Skovgaard visited Møn for the first time in 1842. The Art Historian
N. L. Høyen and P. C. Skovgaard had a long correspondence about the
Cliffs of Møn. Høyen described the area with enthusiasm and told Skovgaard
that many picturesque motifs were to be found here. He compared the
cliffs with the marble palaces painted by Paulo Veronese. Høyen accentuated
the special light appearing in the sea and the sky, and mentioned
that the light here, more than anywhere else in Denmark, reminded him of
the light in Southern Europe.
Høyen’s recommendations prompted P. C. Skovgaard to experience the
landscape himself and he was overwhelmed. It was not an easy task to
paint the enormous cliffs and integrate them into the surroundings - the
sky, sea and beach.
For a long time Skovgaard was unsure of how to paint the cliffs until one
day, while walking on the beach, it suddenly occured to him from where
and how to paint them. He decided to paint them seen from the beach, by
doing this the cliffs became even more impressive and by a clever use of
sunlight and shadow in the painting he gave the cliffs more facets.
A smaller painting with a similar subject can be seen in Fuglsang Kunstmuseum,
Lolland.
Two other well-known Golden Age painters, C. W. Eckersberg (lot 7) and
I. C. Dahl (lot 6), are represented in this sale with views of the Cliffs of
Møn. DKK 500.000-600.000 / € 67.000-80.000
50 BRUUN RASMUSSEN TRÉSOR