A Coach House. Partenkirchen

Download free · 2384 × 3000px View on a wall Edit

Artist: Wilhelm Bendz (Danish, 1804–1832)
Medium: Oil on paper, mounted on canvas
Size: 33 × 26.5 cm
Museum: SMK – National Gallery of Denmark
Rights: Public Domain Mark

The imagery of Golden Age art is infused with a positive view of life. The paintings often accentuate the positive qualities of everyday life. Only rarely is attention focused on the darker aspects of the mind. This painting may be among the rare exceptions. During his Grand Tour, conducted in 1831-32, Bendz painted a coach house in Partenkirchen in the south of Germany. The painting showcases the artist's keen sense for depicting architecture, but it shows more than that.

The artist would have been standing in the dark, looking towards the dimly lit arches. A solitary figure, his back turned to us, leads our gaze onwards - not towards the light, but further into the darkness. The man is different from most of the many similarly posed figures from the period's art insofar as he does not appear to be looking out towards the world around him; rather, he hints at introspection and reflection. The almost claustrophobic space and the dominant darkness give the painting a sombre, melancholy air.