Boys taring a Boat, Nevlunghavn

Munthe's 'Boys Tarring a Boat, Nevlunghavn' of 1880 is painted at Nevlunghavn, a small fishing village in Vestfold on the western shore of the Oslofjord, where Norwegian painters frequently worked during summer months. The maintenance of wooden fishing boats — tarring the hull to prevent rot and seal the wood against seawater — was an essential seasonal activity in any fishing community, performed with a specific set of tools and materials. Munthe's subject combines genre observation — the working boys applying tar — with the specific material culture of Norwegian coastal life. Norwegian coastal painters from this period were engaged with documenting a fishing culture that was both picturesque and practically meaningful: the boats, nets, cottages, and seasonal rhythms of the fishing village constituted a world with its own integrity and beauty. The oil-on-canvas medium allows Munthe to capture the specific textures of tarred wood, the glint of the boat's hull, and the quality of coastal light — bright, clear, and reflective from the water's surface.

The tarring subject presents interesting material textures: the wet, black tar contrasting with the wood grain of the hull, the white or pale-colored cottages behind, and the boys' working clothes darkened with tar. Coastal light — bright and reflective — illuminates the scene with the clarity Munthe pursues.