Articles & Texticles

Peter-Severin Krøyer, 1851-1909

UPDATE New and very recent aerial photo of Skagen added.
UPDATE! (Parts 1 & 2 joined and updated to make one humungous posting.)

It’s a bit of a mystery to me why some painters are very familiar to us and that others just never appear in our radars. It helps to work with and learn from colleagues, of course, especially if they have been exposed to a wide range of influences in other studios, or have visited a variety of galleries. But if you work on your own and have no colleagues, how do you find out about what you are ignorant of? Tricky….

One way and another, It’s only recently that I’ve come across the work of Krøyer, and it certainly wasn’t through what you’d call a traditional learning route.

In January this year I joined a Quit Smoking support group, run by the excellent Camilla Peterken*.

One of her novel ideas is to ask the quitters to write themselves an encouraging postcard from the future, with some inspirational private message. Everyone chooses from a big pile of postcards, writes themselves an uplifting line or two, the cards are collected up and Camilla sends them back to their authors a couple of months later.

So I riffle through the stack of postcards, and I’m stopped dead in my tracks by this:-

Fishermen hauling nets, North Beach, Skagen
I look on the backside of the card and discover that the artist is Peter Krøyer.

Now I’d never heard of Krøyer, and it’s possible that I never would have done (and nor would you) if it were not for the man standing on the left in this group portrait below, leafing through a sketchbook:-

The Hirschsprung Family

Heinrich Hirschsprung was not only a patron of the arts who supported Krøyer during the formative years of his career, but also later introduced Krøyer to his future wife, Marie. He also founded a museum.
There’s a delicious personal irony here for me, in that I came to know about Krøyer mainly because of the wealth of Hirschsprung, who made his money as a….

Tobacco Merchant.

I’m glad to say that I’m stll not smoking (nearly six months later), and *Camilla so liked the imagery I used when describing my coping strategies for nicotine withdrawal that she asked me to design some publicity and support materials for her new business venture “SmokeFree Working”

So, who was Krøyer, and what makes him a painter we ought to know about?

Snippets of biography reveal that:

Although he is one of Denmark’s favourite painters, he was actually born in Norway.

Soon after his birth in July 1851, he was adopted by his mother’s sister and her husband, and taken to live in Copenhagen, Denmark.

He started his art education at nine years old.

In 1870 at the age of 19 he finishes his studies at the Royal Danish Academy of Art

In 1874 Heinrich Hirschsprung buys his first painting from Krøyer, establishing an enduring patronage.

1877-1881, Krøyer travels throughout Europe, developing his skills and vision. He stays in Paris and studies under Leon Bonnat. He is certainly influenced by the major impressionists of that time: Sisley, Renoir, Degas, Monet and Manet. Hirschsprung provides financial backing for Krøyer during this time of travel and learning.

In 1882 Krøyer arrives in Skagen, Denmark. (Pronounced SKAIN. Fire up Google Earth and enter “Skagen,DK” )

Because Skagen is on a long thin promontory, the effects of light in the long summer evenings are extraordinary, and that’s what had piqued my interest on first sight of the postcard. here’s how:

It’s the bit right at the top.

Some beautiful light effects guaranteed….

This photo was taken on 6th of May 2006

It’s a gigantic canvas! Not very easy to keep under control
if there were a breeze. Now look carefully at the image on
Krøyer’s easel here and you’ll find it looks like this one below.

Krøyer enjoys a long association with Skagen, where he spends his summers, retreating to his Copenhagen studio during the winter to pursue his portrait works, and also spending time travelling to Spain, Italy Austria, Germany, Switzerland, and especially France, where he would exhibit canvases at the Paris Salons.

Landing the catch, Hornbaek

Landing the catch, Detail

Here’s a montage of portrait studies for the above painting:

Montage of portrait studies for Landing the catch, Hornbaek

Here are some works from his travels:-

Workers returning, Cernay La Ville

St Malo, Brittany

The Iron Foundry

Italian Farm Workers

Gypsy, Grenada 1879

While in Paris, in the year 1888, he meets Marie Triepcke, a German painter who was raised in Denmark but is now studying at the Pierre Puvis de Chavannes atelier. Krøyer has known her for a few years already, as she was a friend of the Hirschsprung’s, and she had even posed for Krøyer in this picture:

The Duet 1887 (Marie is on the left, in red)

Krøyer is truly smitten this time, and they marry a year later, moving to Skagen together in1891.

He paints her frequently, and his fondness for her is still visible in his canvases today.

Profile, Marie Krøyer 1891

Was the above profile based on this photo below?

Marie photo 1 (from a cyanotype)

Marie, Ravello 1890

They have only one child, Vibeke.

Marie & Vibeke, 1904

Marie is the model for many of his paintings including his most famous work “Summer evening on Skagen’s south beach with Anna Ancher and Marie Krøyer” of 1893.

Summer Evening, Skagen South Beach with Anna Ancher & Marie Krøyern

Study for Summer Evening, Skagen South Beach
(One of many such studies for the painting)

Skagen has become an artists colony by this time, and Krøyer is its ringleader in many ways.
The social circle includes artists Michael and Anna Ancher, (whose portraits by Krøyer adorn the current Danish thousand-kroner bill) and many other artists, writers and poets

Anna Ancher 1886 (?)

Michael Ancher 1886

1000 Kr Note

There were hunting parties,

Skagen Hunters or, “The Artists Rifles”

Drinking parties,

Skagen Artists
(AKA The Pro-Am Celebrity Drinking Team, with Michael Ancher far left (Still standing) and Christian Krogh, in profile but legless, seated, right.)

And garden parties.

Hi Hip Hurrah! 1888

From left to right: Martha Johansen, painter Viggo Johansen, Norwegian painter Christian Krohg, P.S. Krøyer, Degn Brøndum (Anna Ancher’s brother), Michael Ancher, Swedish painter Oscar Björck, Danish painter Thorvald Niss, teacher Helene Christensen, Anna Ancher and Helga Ancher.

Not to mention Mid-Summer’s Eve beach parties, celebrated here in the large scale work “Saint John’s Eve bonfire on Skagen’s beach”

Here’s the study for the painting:

Study for Saint John’s Eve bonfire on Skagen’s beach 1903

And here’s the finished work.

Saint John’s Eve bonfire on Skagen’s beach 1903

Unfortunately, Krøyer had contracted syphilis at some point in his life, and the disease, coupled with a hereditary tendency to mental illness blighted the last decade of his relatively short, 58 year life.
He also gradually lost his eyesight in his last decade, despite which he kept painting some of his best work almost until the day he died, in November 1909, in his beloved Skagen.

Here’s his last self portrait, drawn 7 months before he died….

Books available here:http://www.skagensmuseum.dk/uk/butikken/catalog/books/