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Provenance: Sale: Christie's, London, 15 May 2008, lot 114
Purchased at the above sale by the present owner

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Notes: The culmination of successive weeks spent in Oslo (then Kristiania) in 1897, 1898, and 1901 painting the Akerselven river, the present work is a subjective summation of Thaulow's impressions seen through the prism of progressive French painting.

In an interview for the Verdens Gang, published on 8 January 1901, Thaulow commented: 'Look at these old, red buildings with the white snow and the black water. Nothing is as lovely as red and white and black. In the summer the red colour will be dull and the river will have no colour. It is the white snow which gives the colours their value.'

The view in the present painting suited Thaulow's artistic aims perfectly, allowing the juxtaposition of strong colours to which he alludes, but also the exploration of the complex reflections in and upon the water. Winter views became one of Thaulow's favourite subjects, and they met with critical acclaim. As a measure of their success, a related work, The Old Fabrique, Kristiania, was exhibited at the Royal Academy in London in 1901.

Variants of this subject are in the collections of the Musée Rodin in Paris and the Saint Louis Art Museum in Missouri.