Fritz Syberg: Anchor beams in Korshavn

In the two paintings, we see Mejlø from the north tip of the peninsula Korsøre. From this angle, the otherwise long island appears round and small. Syberg was fascinated by this motif in which Mejlø looks like “a pearl floating on the sea surface”, as the artistis himself has described the sight. He painted many paintings of Mejlø from this angle in different weathers and with and without boats.

Syberg is far from being the only artist who paints the same motif over and over again – it is a way of portraying the change in weather and light and, as we can see, the sea is also constantly changing.

Most of Syberg’s paintings of Mejlø date to the first decade of the 1900’s, however, every year he changed his color palette. Both of these paintings are from 1907 and are characterized by a somewhat gloomy atmosphere, which is typical to Syberg’s paintings of Mejlø in 1907, whether this gloominess was inspired by the artist’s mood or a particularly bad summer weather remains unknown.