14. Johan Christian Dahl

Bergen 1788 – 1857 Dresden

Boulders near Lohmen, Saxony, 1825

The son of a fisherman, Dahl rose from humble beginnings as a house painter in Bergen to become the first Norwegian artist of international renown. In 1811, he moved to Copenhagen to study at the Academy. There he befriended Eckersberg, who encouraged him to paint out-of-doors, and studied the Old Masters, in particular Ruisdael and Everdingen. Dahl first visited Dresden in 1818, moving permanently to the city after his Italian sojourn of 1820-21, and formed a close friendship with Caspar David Friedrich. A methodical student of nature, Dahl painted landscape oil sketches throughout his career. Signed and dated Juni 1825 at lower left, this view was probably painted during a four-day sketching excursion to Lohmen near the Liebethaler Grund. Dahl’s true subject was the scintillating quality of the sunlight as it comes down from the top right corner of the picture and delineates the tree trunk and moss-covered boulders. Painted with rapid, summary brushstrokes, it has the freshness and immediacy of an ephemeral visual experience.