Benny Aage Møller “Nabogavlen” Oil on Canvas, c. 1970s

A brooding and intensely worked oil on canvas in the Danish Cubist-Expressionist tradition, signed by Copenhagen artist Benny Aage Møller and inscribed on the verso with the title Nabogavlen — "The Neighbouring Gable End." Where Møller's companion work Nyboder Søndag Eftermiddag offers warmth and horizontal breadth, this vertical composition is altogether more compressed, shadowed, and visceral — a close-quarters confrontation with architecture reduced to its most elemental geometry.
The subject — a narrow urban passage hemmed by gabled façades and bare winter trees — is rendered in a palette of deep olive, slate grey, terracotta, cream, and near-black, with the paint applied in heavy, gestural impasto that gives the surface a pronounced physical relief. The tree forms in particular are handled with remarkable expressive freedom: their bare branches fracture into jagged, almost calligraphic strokes against the oppressive sky, recalling the graphic energy of late Expressionism while remaining rooted in Møller's own distinctive tessellated visual language.

The fragmented planes of the buildings — interlocking facets of pale stone, ochre render, and deep burgundy roof — are precisely the same constructive vocabulary seen in the Nyboder work, confirming these as part of a coherent and sustained artistic series. Seen together, the two paintings represent an exceptional opportunity to acquire a matched pair by the same hand, in identical artist-made frames, depicting adjacent chapters of the same Copenhagen neighbourhood.

The canvas is set in Møller's characteristic hand-assembled driftwood frame, constructed from salvaged timber with rounded corners and iron bracket fastenings — itself an object of considerable material beauty and a testament to the artist's total creative control over the presentation of his work.

Signed with the artist's monogram lower right; full name and title inscribed on the verso. An unusually atmospheric and technically accomplished small-format work.

Details

• Materials: Canvas; Pine
• Style: Mid-Century Modern (Of the Period)
• Origin: Denmark
• Date of manufacture: 1970
• Dimensions: Height: 21.26 in (54 cm); Width: 17.33 in (44 cm); Depth: 0.6 in (1.5 cm)
• Condition: Good; Wear consistent with age and use.
• Period: 1970-1979