Carl Holsøe

Private collection, Switzerland, by 1976;

From whom acquired by the present owner, c. 2020.

Holsøe appears to have painted at least two versions on this intimate composition in his lifetime. A larger painting in the Statens Museum for Kunst, Copenhagen, painted in 1903, similarly shows the artist's wife Emilie Heise from behind, quietly sewing.¹ The present work was possibly completed before the Copenhagen picture, the passage of time only suggested by the small plant growing on the window-sill.

Inspired by masters from the Dutch Golden Age, such as Johannes Vermeer, Pieter de Hooch, and Gerard ter Borch, Holsøe imbues his works with a sense of stillness and contemplation. Much like Vermeer, his paintings are illuminated by natural light, with this present example lit by a cool light from the left side of the composition.

¹ Oil on canvas, 65.5 x 71.5 cm. Statens Museum for Kunst, Copenhagen, no. KMS1814.