By the Cherry Tree in the Parsonage Garden

There are no known descriptions or photographs of this painting, but Astrup’s title indicates that it depicts the parsonage garden, and perhaps the area by one of the cherry trees in the painting Spring Rain and Cherries (K43). In Astrup’s list from 1927, he puts an alternative title in brackets: “When the Cherries Ripen”. This suggests that the painting shows a scene from July, which contradicts the title in the records of Bergens kunstforening (art society): “Spring”.

In 1913, the painting was on sale for 600 kroner, and it was bought by Bergens kunstforening for 350 kroner on 12 March 1913, as a prize for the art society’s raffle that year. At the raffle, which took place around Christmas in 1913, the painting was won by member number 741, the ophthalmologist Hans Gottfried Dethloff (1871–1948). Dethloff was married to the tuberculosis specialist Elise Dethloff (1872–1931), and they were both practising as doctors in Bergen at the start of the 20th century. The history of the work after 1913 is unknown. The doctors, who were childless, lived in one of the streets affected by the Bergen city fire of 1916, so the painting may have been lost.