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Christian BerthelsenChristian Berthelsen, Village Landscape With Thatched Cottage & Storksc. 1900
c. 1900
About the Item
This charming 19th-century oil painting by Danish artist Christian Berthelsen (1839-1909) depicts a village scene with storks nesting atop a timber-framed dwelling. Is it simply a gentle portrayal of idyllic family life? Or does it allude to a sinister fairy tale by a well-known Danish author?
Berthelsen was born on the small picturesque island of Føhr, where most families worked the land and lived in villages peppered with quaint thatched cottages. Amid these rural communities, children became familiar with various folk stories including those told so menacingly by the author Hans Christian Andersen. In 1839, the year Berthelsen was born, Andersen published ‘Storkene’, a typically macabre tale involving a family of storks. It begins:
"On the last house in a little village the storks had built a nest, and the mother stork sat in it with her four young ones, who stretched out their necks and pointed their black beaks, which had not yet turned red like those of the parent birds.
A little way off, on the edge of the roof, stood the father stork, quite upright and stiff; not liking to be quite idle, he drew up one leg, and stood on the other, so still that it seemed almost as if he were carved in wood. 'It must look very grand,' thought he, 'for my wife to have a sentry guarding her nest. They do not know that I am her husband; they will think I have been commanded to stand here, which is quite aristocratic' and so he continued standing on one leg.”
And then in a gruesome twist, it switches to a group of unruly children who tease the nesting storks with a violent song. It’s too grim to repeat!
Did Berthelsen have this in mind when deciding to paint this scene? It’s particularly interesting that it relates to his birth year given the association of storks and children..
Either way, the Danes have long considered the significance of the nesting stork with many believing it brings good luck despite the moral of the fairytale.
A fascinating piece.
Signed/dated lower left and held within a gilt frame.
Labels & Inscriptions: The verso bears two notes. The first appears to list the names of the painting’s former owners. The second provides a short biography.
- Creator:Christian Berthelsen (1839 - 1909, Danish)
- Creation Year:c. 1900
- Dimensions:Height: 19.5 in (49.53 cm)Width: 25 in (63.5 cm)
- Medium:
- Period:
- Condition:Fine craquelure but the paint is stable. Areas of in-painting following a previous restoration. Frame with some light wear.
- Gallery Location:Cheltenham, GB
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU2328212928902
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- ShippingRetrieving quote...Ships From: Cheltenham, United Kingdom
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