From Slottsparken By Frits Thaulow, Oil Painting

Frits Thaulow (1847-1906): From Slottsparken. Mai, 1881, oil on mahogany, 83 x 62 cm., Private Collection

As brother-in-law to Paul Gauguin and a close friend of Claude Monet, Thaulow was certainly attuned to the currents of Impressionism. Throughout his career, his own style was in constant evolution and he always kept abreast of new stylistic developments and pictorial innovations. He developed a personal style based, during the 1880s, on plein air scenes and, in the 1890s, shifting towards more atmospheric depictions. His ecological and humanist outlook brought him rapid success in Europe and the United States.

It is no surprise that his own work displays impressionistic tendencies, particularly evident here in the rippling effect of the water and the reflective play of light upon the paddle or in the intermingled shadows of the trees in the park.