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The Judgment of Paris

Harald Giersing1909

SMK - Statens Museum for Kunst

SMK - Statens Museum for Kunst
Copenhagen, Denmark

The title of this piece refers to the Ancient Greek legend of Prince Paris, who was called upon to decide who was more beautiful of the three goddesses Hera, Athena, and Aphrodite. Giersing’s painting is indeed peopled by three women and a man, but it might just as well be viewed as a studio scene where the women are models posing nude for a man, possibly the painter. At the same time, the prominent use of colour and lines direct attention away from the mythological narrative to the artistic devices used in the painting.

The motif's ambiguity

The ambiguity of the motif should be regarded as a deliberate strategy on Giersing’s part. His ambition with this picture was to challenge and reinvent classic figure painting. The coarseness, the pareddown palette, the indeterminable placement of the figures within the space, and, very significantly, the thick black contours undulating down the picture plane to form ornamental sequences were all fierce attacks against the finely hewn naturalistic norms prevalent at the time.

A new, modern vein of figure painting

The picture can be viewed as a proposal for a new, modern vein of figure painting that has the reality of art itself as its true content. The Judgement of Paris attracted a great deal of attention when it was first presented to the public in 1910, and it was instrumental in establishing Giersing’s position as one of the most important artists of the young generation of modernists.

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  • Title: The Judgment of Paris
  • Creator: Harald Giersing
  • Creator Lifespan: 1881 København - 1927 København
  • Creator Nationality: Danish
  • Creator Gender: Male
  • Creator Death Place: København
  • Creator Birth Place: København
  • Date Created: 1909
  • Værktekst: Billedets titel henviser til det græske sagn om prins Paris, der skulle dømme om, hvem af de tre gudinder, Hera, Athene og Afrodite, der var smukkest. Giersings maleri er da også befolket med tre kvinder og en mand, men billedet kan lige så vel ses som en atelierscene og kvinderne som nøgenmodeller, der poserer for en rygvendt mand, som kunne være maleren. Samtidig medvirker den markante brug af farver og linjer til at lede opmærksomheden væk fra den mytologiske fortælling og hen imod billedets midler. Motivets tvetydighed Tvetydigheden ved motivet må anses for at være en bevidst strategi fra Harald Giersings side. Hans ambition med dette billede var intet mindre end at udfordre og gentolke det klassiske figurmaleri. Med titlen satte han traditionen i spil og udfordrede samtidig begreberne om, hvordan denne type billede skulle se ud. Grovheden i udtrykket, den forenklede palet, ubestemmeligheden ved figurernes placering i rummet og ikke mindst de tykke sorte konturer, der bugter sig ned over fladen i ornamentale forløb var et heftigt anslag imod tidens fint slebne naturalistiske normer. Et nyt, moderne figurmaleri Billedet kan ses som et bud på et nyt, moderne figurmaleri, der har kunstens egen virkelighed som sit egentlige indhold. Paris’ dom vakte stor opmærksomhed, da det i 1910 blev præsenteret for offentligheden første gang og bidrog afgørende til at etablere Giersings position som en af de betydeligste kunstnere i den unge generation af modernister.
  • Teknik: Olie på compoboard
  • Proveniens: Køb 1967
  • Provenance: Acquired 1967
  • Physical Dimensions: w149 x h121.5 cm (Without frame)
  • Dansk link: http://www.smk.dk/index.php?id=2670
  • Dansk Titel: Paris' dom
  • Type: Painting
  • Rights: Statens Museum for Kunst, http://www.smk.dk/en/copyright/creative-commons/
  • Medium: Oil on board
SMK - Statens Museum for Kunst

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