A Lady Playing the Piano

Carl Vilhelm Holsøe was born in Lyngbye near Arhus in Denmark. He studied at the Royal Academy in Copenhagen between 1882-1884, and later at the Kunstnernes Studieskole under Peder Severin Krøyer, the most influential Danish artist of his generation. Much like his friend Vilhelm Hammershøi, who he met at the Kunstnernes Studieskole, Holsøe is most celebrated for his depictions of sparse, tranquil interiors, which convey stillness, timelessness and introspection. Inspired by Dutch 17th century masters like Jan Vermeer, Pieter de Hooch, and Gerhard ter Borch, Holsøe's figures are still and contemplative, caught in their own reverie.
Like Hammershøi, Holsøe frequently used his wife as both muse and model. She is often depicted with her back to the picture plane and in this work she is seated at the piano, her back to the viewer and playing from memory, the scene lit by a single candle. It is her presence which gives the work its haunting tension, making the viewer feel as though intruding on a personal, meditative moment. Though the viewer recognizes the figure of the woman, her anonymity allows her to be perceived as an object amongst the others, creating a still life across the canvas comprised of the woman at the piano, the Japanese figurine and vases, the candlesticks and the paintings that adorn the walls behind the instrument. While Hammershøi and Holsøe depicted similar subjects in their paintings, Holsøe avoids the symbolic overtones found in Hammershøi’s work in favor of scenes which emphasize the simple and narrative beauty of an intensely personal moment in a softly-lit room.