Dining room in Dr. Wangel’s house. Scenery sketch for G. Ibsen’s drama Daughter of the Sea Alexander Golovin (1863-1930)

The drawing presents a spacious interior, presumably a dining room given the presence of several chairs arranged around a central table. The overall impression is one of considerable scale and deliberate austerity. Walls and ceiling are clad in light-colored wood paneling, creating a sense of enclosure while simultaneously reflecting ample natural light streaming through large windows.
The color palette is dominated by muted greens, blues, and creams, contributing to the rooms cool, somewhat detached atmosphere. The artist employed a loose, expressive technique; lines are visible and often broken, suggesting a rapid execution intended to capture an overall impression rather than precise detail. This approach lends a sketch-like quality to the work, reinforcing its function as a scenery design.
Several elements draw attention. A large bouquet of flowers sits on a table near the left wall, providing a focal point of color and organic form amidst the geometric rigidity of the room’s architecture. The chairs themselves are simple in design, their backs constructed from thin wooden slats, further emphasizing the sense of restraint.
The windows offer glimpses of an exterior landscape – a suggestion of greenery beyond the confines of the interior space. This visual connection to nature is subtly contrasted with the formality and orderliness of the room’s arrangement. The open curtains suggest a potential for interaction with the outside world, yet they also create a barrier, hinting at a separation between the inhabitants of this house and their surroundings.
The composition directs the eye towards the back of the room, where a doorway leads to an unseen space, implying depth and further rooms beyond what is immediately visible. This spatial ambiguity contributes to a feeling of quiet contemplation and perhaps even a sense of isolation – a mood consistent with the context of a drama exploring themes of societal expectations and personal identity. The drawing’s deliberate lack of human figures reinforces this impression of emptiness and psychological distance.