Fjordlandskab med skovbevoksede skær 1832

This fjord landscape with wooded islets was rendered by Martinus Rørbye using delicate strokes of watercolor. Notice the composition: the artist divides the scene horizontally, balancing the solidity of the land with the openness of the sky above and water below. Rørbye uses color to subtly model form and depth, particularly on the hillside to the left. This approach suggests a concern with capturing the perceptual experience, a hallmark of early 19th-century Romanticism. However, Rørbye stops short of illusionism; the sketch retains a graphic quality. The emphasis here isn't on naturalistic representation but on the interplay between surface and depth. The materiality of the watercolor itself, with its translucent washes and visible paper grain, reminds us that we are looking at a constructed image, not a mirror of nature. This is a subtle deconstruction of landscape painting, inviting us to contemplate the act of seeing and representing.