Eva Helene Pade Jagt (Hunt), 2026

Jagt (Hunt) (2026) draws on the choreography of the hunt. At the centre of the composition, several hounds race towards the object of their chase: a twisting, lunging figure enveloped in the smoke of firing rifles. Ambiguity lingers among these translucent clouds, which serve simultaneously to extinguish and conceal. Beneath the refuge of their abstractions, the protagonist’s body appears to sublimate, as though transformation offers a mode of protection – an escape from one form of embodiment to another.

The work reflects Pade’s engagement with historical hunting imagery, including that of Alexandre-François Desportes, official painter of animals and hunting scenes to the French kings Louis XIV and Louis XV. Pade draws on this tradition to explore the tension between violence and its depiction, considering how certain modes of representation can soften, neutralise or even erase brutality – and, in doing so, obfuscate responsibility. ‘I became increasingly interested in the aesthetic of violence, not only in the act itself but in how it’s remembered, retold and interpreted,’ Pade says.

As part of TEFAF New York's Meet the Experts series, Eva Helene Pade will give a talk on Jagt, offering a rare, firsthand insight into the painting. The talk will take place on Saturday 16 May, from 2.30—3pm EST, at Stand 345 within the fair. 

Register here for the talk.