Churchgoers in a Boat

Carl Wilhelmson (1866 - 1928)

Artist/Maker

Artist: Carl Wilhelmson (1866 - 1928)

DatesMade: Made 1909

Material / Technique

Oil on canvas

Dimensionsh x w: Mått 185 x 196 cm h x w: Ram 194 x 205 x 5 cm

Inventory numberNM 1796

AcqusitionPurchase 1914

Other titlesTitle (sv): Kyrkfolk i båt Title (en): Churchgoers in a Boat

DescriptionExhibition text: The subject matters of Carl Wilhelmson’s paintings primarily derive from his home region Bohuslän on the west coast of Sweden. This painting depicts churchgoers in Fiskebäckskil rowing back to their village after the service. Both adults and children are immersed in their own thoughts. The group in the boat is about to move diagonally out from the shadows on land to the sunlit open water. The subtle contrast between light and dark creates a mood of gravity and solemnity.

Exhibited

Nationalmuseum -> Room 1413 Turn of the 20th Century

Collection

Paintings (Paintings)

MaterialOil paint, Duk

TechniquePainting

Keyword

Scen

External links

Wikidata: http://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q18573952

Additional texteDescription: Carl Wilhelmson found most of his subjects in his native Bohuslän. His brightly lit scenes portray the province’s austere, rocky landscape and hard-working fishing communities with gravity and dignity. This painting shows rowing boats putting out from outside the church in Fiskebäckskil to take churchgoers back home after the Sunday service. The special painting technique and bright, luminous palette reflect influences from Wilhelmson’s time in France and artists such as Paul Gauguin. Exhibition text: Ever since the Romantic era, the idea that there were inherited national features, characterized German and Nordic thinking. The rural population, peasants and fishermen, who lived according to older culture patterns and had bodies marked by hard work, exemplified the Nordic national types. From the mid-19th century, the perspective was reinforced through the anatomical museum sample collections that became anthropological race orientated.