Christen Købke @ National Gallery of Scotland Complex

Sitting modestly beside the vast Impressionist Gardens exhibition at the National Gallery complex, one might wonder if the Christen Købke exhibition has received many visitors. Scarcely known outside his homeland, but said to be one of the greatest of Danish ‘Golden Age’ painters, the show has been well attended nonetheless.

Said (by the press release) to be famed for their ‘unique treatment of light and atmosphere’ and for ‘creating a world in microcosm', Købke’s works are indeed resplendent examples of the finishing touch.

As light reflects on the smallest window panes and the lips of his sitters, you find yourself drawn to the shadows in search for the artist’s ‘signature’ stroke. Capturing flawless moments of time, his paintings of untouchable evening skies and crystal clear waters are breathtaking in their serene equanimity.

Købke’s talent to make you ‘look’ and ‘find’ is yet another of his distinct attributes. From the crumbling plaster of Århus Cathedral through the balconies on Frederiksborg Castle and to the drawbridge ropes at the north gate of the Citadel, the painter’s ability to make you cast your eyes from the bigger picture and look for the smaller things is a testament to his talent.

Capturing life, temperament and personality, Købke’s portraits are powerful not in boldness, but in their realness. As his portrayal of his mother encapsulates the face of a busy housewife, and mother of 11 children, it rebuffs the icy aloofness of more typical portraits, and in his Portrait of an Old Sailor the painter even manages to pinpoint an eye-watering moment of vulnerability.

Købke’s paintings of landscapes, towns and castles bathed in the low evening sun stand out like icons, with their remarkable clarity and precision. And as the the cool, autumn light saturates everything outside as it too emanates from Købke’s paintings, there could be no better time for the Danish master to sit alongside the Impressionists.