En rudel hjorte og en stork 1855 - 1858

P.C. Skovgaard made this watercolor sketch of a herd of deer and a stork in Denmark in the mid-19th century. Landscape art at this time often served nationalistic purposes, representing an ideal of the nation, its people, and its history. Skovgaard here presents the Danish landscape as harmonious, fertile, and wild. The artist portrays the deer in their natural habitat in a direct and unidealized way, which was a common theme in the art of the time. This work is interesting because it lacks the grandeur of academic painting. Its small size and delicate execution make it feel intimate and personal. It seems as though it was made as a study for a larger project, perhaps related to contemporary debates about national identity. To understand it better, we could research the role of hunting in Danish society, the development of natural history as a science, and the contemporary art market. Remember that art always depends on its social and institutional context for its meaning.