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Julie Eckersberg, née Juel, the Artist's Second Wife
C.W. Eckersberg (Danish, 1783–1853)
1817
- Medium
- Oil on canvas
- Classification
- Painting
- Dimensions
- height 31.5 cm, width 27.5 cm, height 45.6 cm, width 41.8 cm
- Culture
- Danish
- Museum
- SMK – National Gallery of Denmark
- Rights
- Public Domain Mark: SMK waives its rights in this photograph, as the museum states it.
- Who can see it
- Teens profiles and older: its museum says too little about what it shows to place it for younger viewers. How works are placed
View at the SMK – National Gallery of Denmark
About this work
Eckersberg generally adopted a certain distance to his sitters in commissioned portraits, but this canvas has an unusually private, intimate feel. The slight smile, the direct, piercing gaze, and the casual seated position all help to evoke an unusually strong sense of immediacy and presence. Bente Skovgaard (1983) was the first to suggest that the work may have been inspired by David’s family portraits, including the 1813 portrait of his wife, which Eckersberg may have seen in Paris [78]. Eckersberg and Julie Juel were married on 7 February 1817. An old inscription on the back of the painting says: “This picture was painted by her husband in July 1817.” Their daughter Emilie was born on 13 November that year, which is to say that Julie was five months pregnant at this time. This may explain her slightly heavy appearance in the portrait. Julie was the eldest daughter of the painter Jens Juel, who was deceased by this time.
