Tre figurstudier 1810 - 1848

Christen Købke made this pencil drawing titled "Three Figure Studies" in Denmark sometime in the first half of the 19th century. Köbke was part of the Danish Golden Age of painting, a period of national romanticism when artists looked to the local landscape and ordinary people for their subjects. Here, Köbke sketches three studies of figures. The loose lines suggest a quick study from life. The figures, rendered with an economy of detail, appear to be common folk. During the Golden Age, the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts was the center for artistic training. Artists like Købke were taught to observe the world around them and to find beauty in the everyday. This sketch may have been practice for a larger, more formal history painting, genre painting, or portrait. To understand Köbke's art more fully, we might look at the paintings of his teacher, Christoffer Wilhelm Eckersberg, and the writings of the philosopher N.F.S. Grundtvig, to better understand the social and intellectual currents that shaped Købke's vision.