101. Vilhelm Kyhn

Associated with the National Romantic landscape tradition, Kyhn was primarily interested in painting the Danish countryside and his views of foreign lands are relatively rare. He did, however, produce a number of oil sketches during his travels of 1850-51, which inspired paintings of French and Italian subjects for a few years after his return. This plein air study of Capri shows one of its most charming prospects, often repeated by northern European painters. Taken from the Marina Piccola, the small harbour on the south side of the island, it features the iconic rock formations of the three Faraglioni emerging from the sea, and the old fortress which by then served as a shelter for local fishermen. Kyhn paid great attention to the textures of the sun-drenched rocks and to the scintillating quality of the light reflected on the water, translucent in hues of turquoise in the foreground and of a deep azure on the horizon.