Carl Bloch
Time for a masterpiece to celebrate our special month with the Statens Museum for Kunst. This time it will be a very interesting painting by Carl Bloch. Also, what is worth noting, the museum is preparing the largest exhibition on Carl Bloch to date, which will open in February 2023. :)
From their location outside, in what looks like an idyllic sun-drenched garden, two boys watch an impressive accumulation of seafood on a kitchen table. They are scared but apparently also fascinated by the sight of a lobster with a raised scissor claw and a basket of eels and garfish, also with scissor-like jaws. From an open drawer, an eye-catching knife sticks out its sharp-edged blade. The idyllic scene is infused with a twist of eeriness and insecurity. That the knife is actually very sharp, the artist has underlined with a thin light stripe, showing how the blade captures and reflects the inflowing sunlight.
The painting is a typical example of the artist Carl Bloch's (1834–1890) virtuoso ability to depict objects and surfaces with a seductive illusionism. He plays with the effects of reality and questions who is inside and who is outside. The window is broken and provides no protection against the lobster's scissor claw, on the other hand we as spectators are threatened by the proximity to the sharp knife in the drawer. Humorous and deeply disturbing.
P.S. Do you know Jacobus Vrel? The Dutch master of eeriness who, just like Carl Bloch, also depicted mysterious window scenes featuring children.