Travel Images

Throughout his life, Willumsen sought inspiration for his art abroad. He was particularly drawn to Southern European countries, spending extended periods in places such as the south of France and Spain. From 1916 onwards, he settled permanently in the area around Nice. In the South, he encountered a world that differed in many ways from the one he knew back home. The intense sunlight, warm colors, narrow streets, and lively street life became vital sources of inspiration. He painted landscapes, towns, streets, architecture, and people—subjects that allowed him to capture what he perceived as the distinctive essence of the South.

Willumsen’s images tell us not only about the places he visited but also about the traveler’s perspective. The people he painted are often depicted as characteristic types: the Spanish woman, the Southern man, figures in traditional dress, or individuals blending into an exotic, colorful street scene. These motifs evoke what might today be called a “postcard gaze”— an image of a place where the unique, the picturesque, and the exotic stand out, while ordinary daily life recedes into the background.

Willumsen viewed Southern Europe from a Northern European perspective, describing the Spanish people themselves as distinct “types.” In a letter sent from Seville in 1911, he writes enthusiastically about the picturesque country and its inhabitants yet employs highly generalized descriptions of their character. He himself notes, “That is how all the people of the South appear to us Northerners.”