Ernst Rasmussen’s Oil Painting from the 1950s

Ernst Carl Laurits Rasmussen (1912-1964) was a Danish painter born in the Frederiksberg district of Copenhagen.

After WWII, Rasmussen moved to Paris where he ran a small studio near Place du Terte and painted under the name ‘Jean Le Van’. In 1946, Rasmussen married the Spanish artist Carmen Lillian Cervera (b.1918) and they purchased a house in Vallauris (near Cannes) where their next door neighbour was Pablo Picasso. They became great friends and Picasso painted several portraits of their daughter (Pia) while living there.

The mood and atmosphere of this painting immediately engages us, transporting us into the scene to fully explore this intriguing interior. The artist has explored the relationship between light and colour in order to create the atmospheric scene. Cool blues and dark greys create a sense of low-lit, shadowy corners, while the contrasting use of warmer yellow ochre pigments express warmth and suggest a bright day outside. 

A striking feature about this painting is the distinctive compositional technique of horizontal and vertical lines that we see in the walls, chair and window frame. They create a framing effect around the central jug and table, the intended main focus of the painting, as well as offering a strong and definitive structure to the overall scene.