Style Imitating Art | “Sommerdag ved Roskilde Fjord” (Summer Day by Roskilde Fjord) by L.A. Ring

Or Serendipity Saved the Summer Day…

About Style Imitating Art

Style Imitating Art is hosted by Salazar of 14 Shades of Grey, Shelbee of Shelbee on the Edge, and Marsha of Marsha in the Middle. Style Imitating Art challenges us to draw style inspiration from pieces of art. Every other Monday, one of the hosts, acting as presenter, selects an inspiration image that they will each post on their blogs. The following Monday, each host shares her art inspired outfit. Participants are invited to submit their art inspired outfits to the presenter by 10:00 p.m. EST on the Tuesday following the hosts’ art inspired outfit posts. The following day, Wednesday, the presenter will share all of the submissions on her blog.

You don’t have to be a blogger to join either! In fact, you don’t even have to join but you can still use the art to inspire an outfit just for the sake of trying something different. If you want to share your inspired outfit, we invite you do so on Instagram or any other social media platform that you prefer. Just be sure to tag Salazar, Shelbee, or Marsha or use #TeamLOTSStyle and #StyleImitatingArt so the hosts know you have joined. Go have some fun in your closets and join the SIA challenge next week!

This Week’s Presenter

Salazar chose this week’s artwork. She found this painting to be calm and simple and the perfect style inspiration since summer has just arrived bringing lots of oppressive heat with it.

The Artwork

“Sommerdag ved Roskilde Fjord” (Summer Day by Roskilde Fjord) by L.A. Ring

About the Artist: L.A. Ring

n Born on August 15, 1854, in the southern Zealand town of Ring, Laurits Andersen Ring became one of the foremost Danish painters of the early 20th century, pioneering both symbolism and social realism in Denmark. His mother, Johanne Andersdatter, was a farmer’s daughter, and his father, Anders Olsen, was a wheelmaker and carpenter. In 1869, after his brother took over their father’s workshop, 15 year old Laurits became a painter’s apprentice.

While working in Copenhagen, Laurits began taking private painting classes in 1873. Two years later, he was accepted to the Danish Academy of Arts where he studied briefly with painter P. S. Krøyer. Having a strong dislike for the strict training required for the classical disciplines, Laurits was never content with the academy and left before completing his studies.

In 1881, Laurits and a painter friend, Hans Andersen from the village of Brændekilde, decided to change their names to their native towns. They became L.A. Ring and H.A. Brendekilde for their first exhibition in 1882. Ring began gaining recognition in 1884.

During his time in Copenhagen, Laurits became a close family friend of lawyer and amateur painter Alexander Wilde, spending holidays and summers with them. Eventually, he fell deeply in love with Alexander’s wife, Johanne, but she remained faithful to her husband. After frequent exchanges of intimate letters with Mrs. Wilde that never led to physical intimacy, Laurits finally realized that he would never win Mrs. Wilde. He turned his back on the Wildes in 1893 and left to study in Italy on a travel stipend. He suffered a period of intense depression during this time.

After returning from Italy, Ring began working with fellow painter Sigrid Kähler as his model. The two began a romance and were married in 1896. She was 21, he was 42. The couple had three children, Ghitta (1899), Anders (1900) and Ole (1902), before Sigrid died of tuberculosis on May 9, 1923. She was 49.

In 1900, Ring was awarded the bronze medal at the Paris World’s Fair for his painting In the Garden Doorway, the Artist’s Wife (I Havedøren, 1887). By 1913, he was a notable member of the artist community in Denmark. He built a house overlooking the fjord in Roskilde where he lived until his death in 1933.

About the Art: “Sommerdag ved Roskilde Fjord” (Summer Day by Roskilde Fjord)

Summer Day by Roskilde Fjord, a 1900 oil on canvas by L.A. Ring, is considered to be one of the masterpieces of Danish culture. The painting measures 95.5 cm (37.5 in) by 145.5 cm (57.2 in) and is currently on display at the Randers Museum of Art in Jutland, Denmark.

The painting depicts a panoramic view of the landscape at Roskilde Fjord during an unusually warm period in August 1900. Art historians have interpreted the painting to be symbolic of the cycle of life from night to day and from death to life as well as a portrayal of Ring’s own personal rebirth after marriage. Exhibiting a combination of both realism and symbolism, the two main inspirations behind Ring’s work, Summer Day by Roskilde Fjord begs for meaningful interpretations.

Helpful Links:

• Wikipedia: L.A. Ring
• Wikipedia: Sommerdag ved Roskilde Fjord

About My Outfit

This outfit came about in quite a serendipitous way. At first, I really truly had no idea what to wear for this art challenge. The muted green, blue, and brown color palette doesn’t really correspond with my current wardrobe, leaving me stumped and bewildered. But my confusion was quickly cleared when I spotted this dress and robe combination in the clean laundry pile. I had just worn these two pieces together a few days before I saw the painting.

The drab olive green and batik print on my dress really captured the colors and the lines of the landscape and the mandala print on my sheer ivory robe remind me of little swirls of water. I wore my black rope sandals because they matched the best and I brought in shades of brown and tan with my straw hat and jewelry. I added an olive green fabric belt as a hat band; my earrings and long tassel necklace have tiny bits of blue (so do my toes!); and my other two necklaces, a turtle (a recent gift from my son) and a sea shell, are water themed.

I didn’t add anything to my outfit to represent the cluster of boats in the painting so I went near water to take photographs with the hope that we would see a boat go by. While the geese did not cooperate for my Songful Style photoshoot, the river rafters did! They came by with their kayak guide just in time to be in the background of some photos.

This outfit has been on repeat for two weeks now and I must say it is perfect for hot, humid summer days. If you enjoyed my outfit inspired by Summer Day by Roskilde Fjord, be sure to check out Salazar‘s and Marsha‘s interpretations as well. If you would like to participate in this challenge and have your photo included in Salazar’s round up post on Wednesday, July 2, 2025, be sure to email your photos to her at 14shadesofgreyblog@gmail.com by Tuesday, July 1, 2025, by 10:00 p.m. EST.

I am excited to see what you all wear.

Happy styling! 

Keeping it on the edge, 

Shelbee

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