Portræt af lensgrevinde Lillie Suzanne Raben-Levetzau 1899

Peder Severin Krøyer painted this portrait of Countess Lillie Suzanne Raben-Levetzau with oil on canvas, deploying expressive brushwork and a muted palette. The materiality of the paint itself is very present. We can see Krøyer's process, his energetic application of strokes building up the image layer by layer. The texture and viscosity of the oil paint allow him to capture the soft, diffused light that envelops the Countess, particularly in the rendering of her voluminous white dress. The rapid, sketch-like handling suggests a sense of immediacy, as though Krøyer sought to capture a fleeting impression rather than a highly polished likeness. There is an implicit social commentary here too, in the contrast between the ostentatious dress and the relative lack of finish in the painting. Krøyer seems less interested in celebrating aristocratic privilege than in exploring the artistic potential of paint itself. He elevates the status of his medium through these gestural brushstrokes and the attention given to the materials and process.