The man, the tree and the pink morning

Pink precision
Christen Koebke was a student of C.W. Eckersberg (1783-1853) who is also represented in The Canon for Art, and was taught the virtues of the art of the golden age. This involved observing nature, intimate life and the neighbouring environment and then describing the observations as precisely and detailed as possible. This is exactly what Koebke did. Every little twig on the trees and bushes is painted.

Storytelling and drama took second place in naturalistic art. Nevertheless, it is difficult not to let the imagination flow freely in front of Koebke's atmosphere-filled painting. But initially note the vertical and horizontal lines that keep the motif in balance. Koebke had an unusual capacity for creating balance in the composition. And then he is famous for his unique sense of colour - like here where he catches and depicts a special pink-coloured morning light.

Nearly Japanese
The strong trunk, the branches and the small twigs of the tree appear clearly on the sky. It was a bold stroke to contrast the dark contours against the shining background. The result is graphic and reminds us of the expression in the simple Japanese wood engravings that were popular in Koebke's period.

The large crown of the tree makes the sky crack in front of our eyes and those of the lonely wanderer. Or is it a symbol of small veins or nerves that give life and nourishment to the morning? Perhaps it is simply a tree at a lake shore. Everything depends on the eyes that see. What do you see?

Trine Moeller Madsen is a writer on art and cultural affairs and an author. Among her works is "KUNST" ("Art") (Gyldendal, 2004), a textbook on image analysis for the oldest students in the Danish Folkeskole.