with love, carl vilhelm holsøe

August is finally here, the last month of summer.
I always catch myself reflecting and thinking about my childhood during this month.
Like an emotional preparation for the month of September. New season, new me type shit.
There’s a prominent childhood memory from a visit to a family friend’s summer house in August 1998 and I remember just how much I loved every second of it! An indescribable liberating feeling that fills me with so much nostalgia. It pops up whenever I see pictures of other people’s summer houses and when I visit my best friend’s summer home.

These paintings by the Danish artist Carl Holsøe reminds me of that bewitching feeling I felt exactly 26 years ago. Of waking up early in the morning, eating breakfast outside under the morning sun, eager to finish eating as quickly as possible to do nothing and everything at the same time thanks to your childish imagination. Four days felt like two weeks, yet it also felt as if time and the days went by way too fast. All the pictures from this four day holiday are long gone from my knowledge, but the memories live on.

If you’re from Scandinavia, then I think you’ll understand what I mean by having these nostalgic emotions by viewing these paintings. They’re hauntingly beautiful and in a way help to heal my inner child.

Carl Vilhelm Holsøe (1863-1935)

Waiting by the window

Interior with a woman

A saucer of milk

Interior from the artist’s home

Solitude

Interior

Interior light

Interior with a cello

Interior with a Samovar

If you want to learn more:
Collection of artworks by Carl Vilhelm Holsøe
Carl Vilhelm Holsøe (1863-1935) 4K Collection of paintings. Isolation. (video, 35 minutes)
Carl Vilhelm Holsoe: A collection of 65 paintings (HD) (video, 6 minutes)

Other artworks that I’ve written about: Lover of art
The art of painting
Pope makes love to Lady Mary Wortley Montagu
Portrait of a black woman