Peter Ilsted

Peter Ilsted was one of a group of Danish artists who focused in their work on domestic interiors. His art reflects the quiet order of everyday life as lived by the Danish middle class around 1900 – a microcosm in which the social and political upheavals of the time were deliberately ignored. Inspired by 17th century Dutch interior painting – for instance that of Johannes Vermeer and Pieter de Hooch – Ilsted’s images feature sparsely decorated interiors in which mostly female figures devoutly pursue their everyday activities. Exerting an equally formative influence on his style was the painted oeuvre of his fellow artist and brother-in-law, Vilhelm Hammershøi, which he held in great esteem.

The formal reduction in this depiction of an empty chair in front of a secretaire makes it Ilsted’s most radical and modern interior. The essentially monochrome palette reinforces the purist impact of the scene. It is in this work that Ilsted comes closest to implementing the aesthetic programme pursued by his brother-in-law. This rare mezzotint is on offer here in a very fine, subtly gradated impression with wide margins. With the die stamp of Karl Stender, Copenhagen, at the bottom right. Minor ageing, otherwise in very good condition.

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