Landscape by the Sound

The picture shows a North Zealand summer landscape with the part of the Sound north of Skodsborg, where the country house Aggershvile to the right is still located. Out in the strait lies the island of Hven. The reproduction of the landscape and atmosphere is executed with a delicate colouring that was typical of Juel. The wide prospect is constructed with a traditional division of the image planes. The painting is a tribute to the prosperous and peaceful Denmark that followed the national farm reforms and financial boom, where peasants and citizens lived in harmony, while the many ships out on the Sound indicate dynamism and optimism.

About the artist:
Jens Juel was the leading portraitist in Denmark in the 1700s. He received his primary training in Hamburg, where he was influenced by the city’s bourgeois taste in the Dutch painting tradition. Back in Denmark, Juel won the Academy’s gold medal in 1771 and the following year, he received a stipend to study abroad, which led him to Germany, Rome, Switzerland and Paris, among other places. The artist received many portrait commissions from the bourgeoisie and nobility in particular, and he quickly became the country’s undisputed court painter. His portraits are characterised by his empathetic portrayal of humans. Juel was also an excellent colourist and his portraits display notes of elegance, figurative simplicity and psychological qualities.