Detail of the North Cape by Moonlight by Peder Balke in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Feb. 2020

The North Cape by Moonlight
1848

Peder Balke


Object Details

Title: The North Cape by Moonlight

Artist: Peder Balke (Norwegian, Helgøya, Nes 1804–1887 Oslo (Kristiania))

Date: 1848

Medium: Oil on canvas

Dimensions: 24 7/16 x 33 7/16 in. (62 x 85 cm)

Classification: Paintings

Credit Line: Gift of Christen Sveaas, in celebration of the Museum's 150th Anniversary, 2019

Accession Number: 2019.167.4


Balke visited the North Cape only once, in 1832, but the experience became a touchstone of his imagination for the rest of his life. The tenebrous palette and expressive brushwork seen in this moonlit view are characteristic of Balke’s mature style, which stands in contrast to the more restrained naturalism of his mentor Johan Christian Dahl. When this painting (or another version) was exhibited in Oslo in the fall of 1848, a critic wrote that it "claims our interest, both for the nature of the subject itself and the singularity of the perception of the chosen moment."

Text from: www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/441379