Carl Holsoe shared an artistic training with Vilhelm Hammershoi, studying at the Royal Academy at Copenhagen and then at PS Kroyer’s Artists’ Study School. He formed close friendships with both Hammershoi and his brother-in-law, Peter Ilsted: all three eventually became intimates of the highest intellectual and cultural circles in Denmark. Having been rejected by the annual State Exhibition for their groundbreaking subject matter and use of subtle low tones, they became members of Den Frie Udstillung (The Free Exhibition), a progressive society set up in 1890 as an alternative space to show their work.



Holsoe, Hammershoi and Ilsted devoted themselves to creating art out of the spaces and objects they saw around them. For Holsoe this meant his much loved home in Copenhagen, ‘Albertine’s Choice’, and, later, his beautiful and well-appointed country villa at Asserbo. Their focus on interiors reflects their admiration for Vermeer and their identification with the Symbolist concept of the significance of domestic interiors in granting access to ‘the mysteries’, to inner life and to subjectivity.



While his airy brushwork beautifully evokes a sense of space, Holsoe’s works also pay homage to the magical pure light of the long Scandinavian summer days. In 'Interior, by the window' the white muslin curtain back drop increases the glowing intensity of the incoming sunlight, producing a radiant warmth throughout the work as the woman looks out, seemingly absorbed in her thoughts. This is an irresistible combination of luminous domesticity and meditative calm.



Holsoe gained widespread recognition and success during his career. He was a regular exhibitor for over thirty years at Carlottenborg, where he won 33 medals including the prestigious Eckersberg Prize, and exhibited internationally in Paris, London, Sweden and Munich.