Scandinavian Landscape Painting (1840 – 1910)

Wednesday 14 May 2025 at 2.00 pm at the Lowther Pavilion. Guests may attend the lecture – £10 pp (pay on door)

Lecturer: Caroline Levisse

This will be Dr Caroline Levisse’s first visit to The Arts Society Fylde. Caroline is an art historian based in London. She was born in France where she studied art history before moving to Copenhagen. In Denmark, she focused on research work and completed a PhD on the relations between art and religion in contemporary Scandinavian art. After graduating in 2013, she moved to London and started teaching art history with adult education providers. She has since developed a range of courses focusing on 19th and early 20th century Western art. She has published articles in French and English in academic journals as well as magazines and newspapers, such as Church Times and Arts sacrés.

The Lecture

There is something special about Nordic nature. Its vastness, wilderness, and remoteness are some of the reasons it is so fascinating. Let’s not forget the exceptional light conditions, such as the midnight sun and auroras. Surely, nature has been a cornerstone of life in the Nordic countries. This importance is reflected in the history of art by the significant place held by landscape painting. We will explore various ways in which nature has been represented by Danish, Finnish, Norwegian and Swedish painters from 1840 to 1910. As we will see, nature was rarely just represented in a transparent, unmediated manner. It mirrored a national identity or an artist’s inner world.

Caption: Summer Evening on Skagen’s Southern Beach by Peder Severin Krøyer. Picryl Public Domain