Sunlit Breakfast

Carl Holsøe studied at the Royal Academy of Art in Copenhagen between 1882 and 1884. Thereafter he enrolled at Peder Severin Krøyer's school, where he met Vilhem Hammershøi (1864-1916) who had a great impact on him. In 1886 Holsøe exhibited for the first time at Charlottenborg's December exhibition. Holsøe was deeply influenced by the Dutch masters, notably by Johannes Vermeer. His frequent motif was an interior with furniture and one lone person. His treatment of light and colours playing over the walls, the furniture and the sitter, gives a sense of harmony and intimacy. He often used his wife as a model and inspiration for his paintings.