A house at Hornbæk in moonlight.

Carl Locher's 'A House at Hornbæk in Moonlight' (1886) depicts the Danish coastal village of Hornbæk on the northern coast of Zealand — a fishing village that had also become a popular summer destination for Copenhagen bourgeoisie, its combination of natural beach and charming traditional architecture making it one of the most pleasant of Danish coastal resorts. The moonlit house subject gave Locher an opportunity for atmospheric nocturnal study, the moonlight on the traditional Danish coastal building creating a quietly evocative domestic night scene.

Locher renders the house in moonlight with attention to the specific quality of the nocturnal illumination — the moonlight's cool, silvery quality on the white or light-colored house walls, the surrounding darkness, and the particular atmosphere of a sleeping coastal village under the night sky. His handling of the tonal contrasts of moonlit architecture — the bright surfaces and deep shadows — creates the specific visual character of the nocturnal subject.