“This painting captures a private, vulnerable moment of a studio model trying to keep warm, offering a glimpse into the human side of artistic creation and the quiet dignity of labor.”
In this intimate portrait, a young woman, likely a professional model, huddles against the chill of a studio. Her bare shoulders and chest are exposed, contrasting with the heavy, dark fabric draped around her lower body and the shawl she clutches. The artist captures a moment of vulnerability, focusing on her expression and posture as she endures the cold for her profession. Her gaze, directed slightly away, suggests a quiet resilience rather than a direct engagement with the viewer. The muted colors and soft lighting emphasize the somber mood, drawing attention to the subtle shifts in her skin tone and the texture of the cloth. This work, painted in 1903, reflects a turn towards Romanticism in Danish art, moving away from strict realism to explore emotional depth and inner experience.
- Artist
- Valdemar Irminger
- Date
- 1903
- Medium
- Oil on canvas
What to Notice
Five details hide in plain sight. Here’s where to look.

The model's clasped hands, suggesting an attempt to generate warmth.
The subtle blush on her cheeks, possibly from the cold.
The way the dark fabric creates a stark contrast with her pale skin.
The soft, diffused light illuminating her figure from above.
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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
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
From the Old Colosseum
1888 · ARoS Aarhus Kunstmuseum
En tilgivelse
1892 · Statens Museum for Kunst
Over midnat
1894 · Statens Museum for Kunst
The girl and the kitten.
1895
Dameportræt
1896 · Statens Museum for Kunst
More works to explore
Beyond Irminger: works from the same years.
Same era · 1880s–1910s
Portrait of Natalia Goncharova
Mikhail Larionov · 1903
Same era · 1880s–1910s
Frauenkopf vor Sonnenblumen
Ernst Ludwig Kirchner · 1906 · Museum Frieder Burda
Same era · 1880s–1910s
Carmelina
Henri Matisse · 1903 · Museum of Fine Arts Boston
Same era · 1880s–1910s
The Old Guitarist
Pablo Picasso · 1903 · Art Institute of Chicago
Same era · 1880s–1910s
Composition with Figures and a Horse
Paul Gauguin · 1902 · Nationalmuseum
Same era · 1880s–1910s
Mont Sainte-Victoire
Paul Cézanne · 1904 · Detroit Institute of Arts
Same era · 1880s–1910s
Charing Cross Bridge, London
Claude Monet · 1901 · Art Institute of Chicago
Same era · 1880s–1910s
Antwerp
Georges Braque · 1906 · Art Institute of Chicago
Same era · 1880s–1910s
Consolation
Edvard Munch · 1907 · Munch Museum
Same era · 1880s–1910s
Haystacks, Morning, Eragny
Camille Pissarro · 1899 · The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Same era · 1880s–1910s
Jean Renoir Sewing
Pierre-Auguste Renoir · 1899 · Art Institute of Chicago
Same era · 1880s–1910s
Mademoiselle Nys
Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec · 1899 · The Metropolitan Museum of Art
