“Stop to appreciate this intimate portrait of a young woman on a balcony, captured in a moment of quiet contemplation, with soft light illuminating her delicate features and surroundings.”
A young woman stands on a balcony, her gaze directed out of the frame, hinting at a world beyond the canvas. The painting captures a quiet moment, bathed in a soft, natural light that highlights the delicate folds of her white dress and the subtle blush on her cheeks. The artist has chosen a close-up perspective, bringing us intimately into her space, yet her averted eyes maintain a sense of mystery. The lush green foliage of the trees behind her suggests a warm, perhaps late afternoon, setting, contrasting with the cool, shadowed architecture of the building. This work, created in 1897, reflects a shift towards Romanticism, focusing on emotional depth and individual experience rather than strict realism. It invites contemplation about her thoughts and the scene she observes, making the viewer a silent witness to her private moment.
- Artist
- Valdemar Irminger
- Date
- 1897
- Medium
- Oil on canvas
- Location
- Statens Museum for Kunst
What to Notice
Five details hide in plain sight. Here’s where to look.

The delicate lace trim on the collar and cuffs of her white dress.
The subtle blush on her cheeks and the faint shadow under her chin.
The way the light catches the individual strands of her hair.
The vibrant green leaves and the hints of blue sky in the background.
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Valdemar Irminger
1850–1938 · Kingdom of DenmarkIrminger painted children at a Danish hospital with such tenderness that the works won him back-to-back Academy medals in 1888 and 1889.
Further Works by Irminger
En tilgivelse
1892 · Statens Museum for Kunst
Over midnat
1894 · Statens Museum for Kunst
Dameportræt
1896 · Statens Museum for Kunst
The Children Saying Good Night to their Stars
1898 · Statens Museum for Kunst
Hyrdedrengen læser ABC
1904 · Statens Museum for Kunst
Landscape with a red deer stag and two hinds.
1869
All Saints' Day. A widower in a cemetary for the poor in Rome.
1886 · Kunsten Museum of Modern Art Aalborg
A roaring lion in the Colosseum.
1886
More works to explore
Beyond Irminger: works from the same years.
Same era · 1880s–1910s
A Woman Walking in a Garden
Vincent van Gogh · 1887 · Frans Buffa & sons
Same era · 1880s–1910s
Still Life with Crayfish
Mikhail Larionov · 1900 · Museum Ludwig
Same era · 1880s–1910s
Frauenkopf vor Sonnenblumen
Ernst Ludwig Kirchner · 1906 · Museum Frieder Burda
Same era · 1880s–1910s
A Sunday on La Grande Jatte — 1884
Okada Saburosuke · 1884 · Art Institute of Chicago
Same era · 1880s–1910s
Madame Léon Clapisson
Léon-Victor Dupré · 1883 · Art Institute of Chicago
Same era · 1880s–1910s
Branch of the Seine near Giverny (Mist)
Claude Monet · 1897 · Art Institute of Chicago
Same era · 1880s–1910s
Émilie
Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec · 1897 · The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Same era · 1880s–1910s
The Kiss
Edvard Munch · 1897 · Munch Museum
Same era · 1880s–1910s
Maternal Caress
Mary Cassatt · 1896 · Philadelphia Museum of Art
Same era · 1880s–1910s
No te aha oe riri (Why Are You Angry?)
Paul Gauguin · 1896 · Art Institute of Chicago
Same era · 1880s–1910s
Rue de l'Epicerie, Rouen (Effect of Sunlight)
Camille Pissarro · 1898 · The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Same era · 1880s–1910s
The Loire
Alfred Sisley · 1896 · Art Institute of Chicago
