CARL VILHELM HOLSOE
(Danish 1863-1935)
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Carl Vilhelm Holsøe was born in 1863 in the town of Lyngbye, near Arhus in Denmark. His father was Niels Peder Christian Holsøe (1826-1895), head architect of the Danish State Railways who was responsible for designing many of the train stations and public buildings across Denmark. His younger brother Niels Holsøe was also a painter. Like his father, Carl attended the Royal Academy in Copenhagen from 1882-1884 but then then transferred to the Kunstnernes Studieskole, an independent study school. There he met fellow artist Vilhelm Hammershøi (1864-1916) and studied under one of Denmark’s most famous and influential artists Peder Severin Krøyer (1851-1909). Holsøe received several stipends from the school, one which enabled him to travel to Italy in 1897.
In 1883 Holsøe married Emilie Heise, his most frequent model. He exhibited for the first time in the December 1886 Royal Danish Academy Charlottenborg Exhibition with a moody interior scene, for which he was to become known. By 1888 he began to exhibit regularly at the Spring and Autumn Exhibitions. He was twice awarded the academy’s annual medal (now the Eckersberg Medal) and he was made a member of the academy assembly. He was a member of the board of the Kunstforeningen (The Danish Art Society) and participated in the Association for National Art Exhibitions. He was also held in high regard internationally receiving an honourable mention at the Universal Exposition in Paris in 1889, and a gold medal in Munich in 1891.
Holsøe became enormously popular throughout Scandinavia and the rest of Europe. He was good friends with fellow artist Vilhelm Hammershøi from the time they attended classes at Kunstnernes Studieskole, and the similarity between their works is apparent. It is unclear today which was the first to gravitate to painting the sparse, tranquil interiors they are known for today. Inspired by Dutch 17th century painters like Vermeer and De Hoock, Holsøe painted figures caught in a moment of contemplation. His paintings are infused with natural light often indirectly shining through a window or doorway, successfully capturing the moody Scandinavian Northern Light. His use of direct and reflected light have been compared to that of Vermeer’s. Like his friend Hammershøi, Holsøe often used his wife as a model, though she is often turned so that her identity is not readily apparent. However, unlike Hammershøi, Holsøe avoided symbolic overtones in his interiors but rather emphasized the simple narrative beauty of a quiet moment in a quiet room bathed in soft light. While Holsøe did also paint landscapes and still lives he focused primarily on these quiet interiors.
Holsøe’s wife Emilie died in 1930. He remarried to Ingeborg Margrethe Knudsen just seventeen days before his death in 1935 in the northern town of Asserbo, North Zealand where he is buried in Vinderød churchyard. His work is collected and represented in museums worldwide.