After First Communion (Carl Frithjof Smith, 1892) on:
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''After first Communion'' is a 1892 painting by the Norwegian artist
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Late 19th century. On the left, a group of people emerge from the side door of a church and spread out onto the street: they are mostly young girls who have made their first communion, dressed in white and holding missals and candles, symbols of the sacrament.Ferguson, George. Signs & Symbols in Christian Art. Oxford University Press paperback, London, 1961, p. 162 In the background, others walk or carriage away.
The pictorial space is organized into two distinct perspectives of architecture and people, with the foreground having an atelier realism, while the background shows a sfumato effect.Gray, Peter. Apprendre à dessiner. Evergreen GmbH, Köln, 2008, p. 268 A large arched branch helps frame and focus the eye on the foreground.
The girls are mainly involved with each other or absorbed in themselves; the candles that they keep loosely in their hands are diagonally arranged, which gives a sense of movement.Piper, David. The Joy of Art. Line, Shape, Contour, Articulation. Spring Books, London, 1988, p. 96 In contrast, the girl standing in the foreground, intensely staring at the viewer and actively holding the candle away from her body, generates an effect of eerie stillness. Because of her intense dark eyes and the “photographic” sharpness of her contours, she almost seems to “step out of the picture”, contributing to the disconcerting effect that is the distinguishing feature of this painting.Piper, David. The Joy of Art. Oils: Surface Effects. Spring Books, London, 1988, p. 126
Wearing mostly dark clothes, the adults create a play of chiaroscuro, thus emphasizing the contrast between youth and old age that is always repeated in Smith's paintings and finds its meanings in positivist culture and social analysis. All characters are well researched and depicted, as they say, with marked "atelier" realism, although there is no lack of atmospheric effects, here highlighted by the warm brightness of the background on the right where the buildings and sky fade into the distance.
Carl Frithjof Smith
Carl Frithjof Smith (5 April 1859 - 11 October 1917) was a Norwegian portrait and genre painter who spent his career in Germany.
Biography
Carl Frithjof Smith was born at Christiania, Norway.
His father, Christian August Smith, was a furrier ...
. It was purchased in that same year at the International Art Exhibition in the Royal Glass Palace in Munich by the Museo Revoltella of Trieste, where it is hanging nowWendt, Sabine. Frithjof Smith. VÅR Verlag, 2010, p.182Museo Revoltella, Trieste, Italy/ref>
Overview
It is the late 1800's. A group of people leave the church, mostly young girls after their first communion. The girls wear white dresses; on the contrary, the older figures are in dark tones, emphasizing the contrast between youth and old age.Mazzanti, Anna. In “Arte d’Europa tra due secoli: 1895-1914. Trieste, Venezia e le Biennali”. Electa, Milano, 1995, p.120-121 & 289 While most people are involved with each other, a girl in the foreground, painted with almost “photographic” definition, is staring intensely at the viewer, breaking thefourth wall
The fourth wall is a performance dramatic convention, convention in which an invisible, imaginary wall separates actors from the audience. While the audience can see through this "wall", the convention assumes the actors act as if they cannot. ...
. This contrast creates a disconcerting effect that is the distinguishing feature of the painting.
In-depth
Late 19th century. On the left, a group of people emerge from the side door of a church and spread out onto the street: they are mostly young girls who have made their first communion, dressed in white and holding missals and candles, symbols of the sacrament.Ferguson, George. Signs & Symbols in Christian Art. Oxford University Press paperback, London, 1961, p. 162 In the background, others walk or carriage away.
The pictorial space is organized into two distinct perspectives of architecture and people, with the foreground having an atelier realism, while the background shows a sfumato effect.Gray, Peter. Apprendre à dessiner. Evergreen GmbH, Köln, 2008, p. 268 A large arched branch helps frame and focus the eye on the foreground.
The girls are mainly involved with each other or absorbed in themselves; the candles that they keep loosely in their hands are diagonally arranged, which gives a sense of movement.Piper, David. The Joy of Art. Line, Shape, Contour, Articulation. Spring Books, London, 1988, p. 96 In contrast, the girl standing in the foreground, intensely staring at the viewer and actively holding the candle away from her body, generates an effect of eerie stillness. Because of her intense dark eyes and the “photographic” sharpness of her contours, she almost seems to “step out of the picture”, contributing to the disconcerting effect that is the distinguishing feature of this painting.Piper, David. The Joy of Art. Oils: Surface Effects. Spring Books, London, 1988, p. 126
Wearing mostly dark clothes, the adults create a play of chiaroscuro, thus emphasizing the contrast between youth and old age that is always repeated in Smith's paintings and finds its meanings in positivist culture and social analysis. All characters are well researched and depicted, as they say, with marked "atelier" realism, although there is no lack of atmospheric effects, here highlighted by the warm brightness of the background on the right where the buildings and sky fade into the distance.
See also
In 1880, at the age of 21, Carl Frithjof Smith, a Norwegian by birth, enrolled in the Munich Academy of Fine Arts withLudwig von Löfftz
Ludwig von Löfftz (21 June 1845 – 3 December 1910) was a German genre and landscape painter.
Biography
He was born at Darmstadt. He was a pupil of August von Kreling and Karl Raupp at Nuremberg, then of Wilhelm von Diez at the Academy ...
among the principal instructors, a genre painter who certainly influenced him toward this type of painting. As early as 1890, however, Frithjof Smith moved to Weimar where he obtained a teaching position at the Grand-Ducal Saxon Art School, Weimar
The Grand-Ducal Saxon Art School, Weimar (German:Großherzoglich-Sächsische Kunstschule Weimar) was founded on 1 October 1860, in Weimar, Germany, by a decree of Charles Alexander, Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach. It existed until 1910, when ...
and where he would remain for the rest of his life.
In Weimar the climate was rather conservative and intransigent, nevertheless Frithjof Smith managed to reconcile academicism with the new en plein air fashions to such an extent that his paintings were appreciated both by opponents of "en plein air" and in Munich. This “After first Communion” in particular is enthralling and beloved also today.{{cite web, url= https://museorevoltella.it/un-dipinto-molto-amato-dopo-la-prima-comunione/ , title=Un dipinto molto amato , website=Museo Revoltella, Trieste, Italy, access-date=October 15, 2023
References