COLLECTION NAME:
Visual Resources Teaching Collection
mediaCollectionId
ArtArtHiAAH~7~7
Visual Resources Teaching Collection
Collection
true
Image Record ID:
aahi0000255
image_record_id
aahi0000255
Image Record ID
false
Work Title (display):
Sewing by Lamplight
Image Title:
full view
Work Dates (display):
1870
Work Dates type:
creation
Work Creator (display):
Harriet Backer (Norwegian, 1845-1932)
Work Creator gender:
female
work_creator_or_agent_gender
female
Work Creator gender
false
Work Creator notes (display):
Norwegian painter. In the 1860s and early 1870s she took lessons in drawing and painting in Christiania (now Oslo) and also travelled extensively in Europe with her sister Agathe, a composer and pianist. She copied works in major museums and took occasional art lessons; she later considered this experience to have been of fundamental importance to her artistic development. Little Red Riding Hood (1872; Oslo, N.G.) is impressive in technique, and the early portrait of her sister, Agathe Backer-Grøndahl (1874; Holmestrand, Komm.), shows a refined colour scheme. At the age of nearly 30 Backer decided to train professionally as a painter and in 1874 went to Munich. She was never attached to a particular institution, but the influence of her friend the artist Eilif Peterssen was crucial to her development. In Munich she made a thorough study of perspective, which formed a secure basis for her later work. The work she did while in Munich reflects a study of the Old Masters in museums and is characterized by a preference for the historical subjects typical of the Munich school, as well as by an interest in the psychological portrait (e.g. The Lance Bearer, 1877; priv. col.; see Kielland, p. 61) and the interior (e.g. Departure, 1878; Oslo, N.G.) From 1878 to 1888 Backer was in Paris, where she studied (187880) under Léon Bonnat and Jean-Léon Gérôme. She learnt the value of confident draughtsmanship and disciplined composition, particularly with regard to the balance and arrangement of colour. These qualities, along with an impressionistic approach to colour, became characteristic of her mature work: they can be clearly seen in Chez-moi (1887; Oslo, N.G.). At this time interiors became her most important theme (her principal interest being in the play of daylight within the enclosed setting), while her pictures gradually lost their literary content. In such paintings done in Brittany as Blue Interior (1883; Oslo, N.G.) her new style is apparent; this work also reveals the direct influence of French Impressionist painters. From 1888 Backer lived in Christiania, making only a few trips abroad. On her return to Norway the simple farmhouse interiors at first captured her interest; but in 1890 her painting took a new turn under the influence of the new Romantic current in Scandinavian painting. In a series of scenes set in churches she combined her interest in the historical interior with an evocative description of contemporary religious life, while always treating the picture as a formal exercise. Baptism in the Church at Tanum (1892; Oslo, N.G.) is usually considered her most important work. She also turned her attention to landscapes, where her interest was initially in the light of the evening sky. After about 1900 the brilliant daylight of summer came to dominate her landscape painting. The work from her last years consists chiefly of landscapes and still-lifes and is distinct in its lighter palette and generally freer style. Throughout her career Harriet Backer painted portraits, the best known being those of her friend, the painter Kitty L. Kielland (1883), and of her nephew, the composer Johan Backer-Lunde (1896; both Oslo, N.G.). Backer exhibited regularly, but worked very slowly and left only about 180 paintings. From 1889 to about 1910 she ran a well-attended art school in Christiania. (Grove Art Online accessed 2006-07-25)
Work Style Period:
Impressionist
work_styleperiod
Impressionist
Work Style Period
false
Work Style Period:
19th century
work_styleperiod
19th century
Work Style Period
false
Work Subject:
women (female humans)
subject
women (female humans)
Work Subject
false
Work Subject:
genre
subject
genre
Work Subject
false
Work Subject:
sewing (process)
subject
sewing (process)
Work Subject
false
Work Worktype:
paintings (visual works)
work_type
paintings (visual works)
Work Worktype
false
Work Category (VRC classification):
paintings
work_category__ucbaahvrc_classification_
paintings
Work Category (VRC classification)
false
Work Inscription (display):
Signed; Dated
Work Location (Repository or Site) name:
Nasjonalgalleriet (Norway)
Work Location (Repository or Site) role:
repository
Work Location (Geographic) name:
Oslo, Norway
Image Rights (display):
© Ronald Wiedenhoeft. Licensed for educational use via Scholars Resource: Saskia, Ltd.
Image Rights license agreement:
SASKIA, LTD.: WHO CAN USE THIS SOFTWARE: (a) Licensee, including faculty, staff and currently enrolled students may use the Licensed Software to display and or print the corresponding graphic images without limitation for teaching and research purposes at the defined Sites, or at remote locations having electronic access to your Site(s). (b) This license include permission to use the Licensed Software on a multi-user network at the defined Site, and to permit remote access to a computer/server located at your Site. Simultaneous display in multiple locations at or connected to the Site is also permitted. (c) Licensee agrees to employ reasonable security measures designed to limit access to your faculty, staff and currently enrolled students. PROHIBITED USES AND LIMITATIONS: (a) Saskia hereby reserves all rights not expressly granted herein. (b) the License Software may not be used for preparaiton of any publication, scholarly or otherwise; or for any purpose other than teaching or research. Publication of an image from the Licensed Software requires a separate license from Saskia. (c) Licensee agrees not to resell, lease, transfer, sub-license or otherwise distribute a copy of the Licensed Software, or any image taken from the Licensed Software, in whole or in part. (d) Licensee also agrees not to modify, corrupt or alter any digital image graphic content or "digital watermark" or the like in the software provided by Saskia under this Agreement. (e) Licensee agrees not to remove, alter, cover or distort Saskia's copyright notice, trademark, or other proprietary rights notice placed by Saskia in the Licensed Software itself, or in the associated packaging, media or documentation. (f) And Licensee agrees to notify users of the Licensed Software, in writing or by sign-on screen display, of their obligations under this Agreement and solicit their cooperation and compliance with such obligations.
Work Rights (display):
public domain
Terms of Agreement and Conditions of Use:
YOU AGREE: Luna Imaging's Insight Software and the digital image collection associated with it (the Software) are being provided by the University of Colorado under the following license. By obtaining, using, and/or copying this work, you (the Licensee) agree that you have read, understood, and will comply with the following terms and conditions. 1. The Software contains the University of Colorado's Department of Art and Art History's implementation of a digital image collection; 2. Any images obtained through use of the Software will be used only for non-profit, educational purposes; 3. The use of images obtained through the software will only be used while the Licensee is either: a) an employee of the University of Colorado, Metropolitan State College of Denver, or the Community College of Denver, or b) an enrolled student at the University of Colorado, Metropolitan State College of Denver, or the Community College of Denver; 4. When the Licensee is no longer an employee or student of the University of Colorado, Metropolitan State College of Denver or Community College of Denver, either by an action of the University of Colorado, Metropolitan State College of Denver or the Community College of Denver or due to actions of the Licensee, the licensee will cease to use any images exported from the Department of Art and Art History's digital image collection; 5. The Licensee agrees to indemnify the University for claims and liability arising out of the use of the Software or for any violations of this license; 6. THE UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO SUPPLIES THE SOFTWARE WITHOUT ANY WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING ANY WARRANTY OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.
CU Copyright Statement:
The contents of the University of Colorado Digital Library are available for your use in research, teaching, and private study. Some of these items are protected by the U.S. Copyright Law (Title 17, U.S.C.) and some items may have additional restrictions. If you use the items in this collection, make sure you abide by any restrictions stated in the descriptive data window. The nature of these collections often makes it difficult to determine the copyright status of an item. We have made every effort to provide information about copyright owners and other restrictions in the descriptive data window. Ultimately, however, it is your responsibility to use the item according to the terms governing its use. If you are a copyright holder and the information is either not listed or listed incorrectly, please let us know so that we can update the information on our site.
Holding Institution:
University of Colorado at Boulder
Collection:
Art and Art History Visual Resources Center
Collection info and contact:
For information about this collection, see