Peder Severin Krøyer | Impressionist painter

Peder Severin Krøyer (23 July 1851 - 21 November 1909) portrayed the life of the artists.

Scenes such as walking along the beach, dining together, and the magnificent atmosphere of the evenings in the moonlight was Krøyer’s chosen motifs.

Krøyer was 14 years old when he first enrolled to the Royal Academy of Fine Arts.

He was quite talented as an artist, and he was respected as a portrait painter, which by this time was a very prestigious genre.

In the beginning of his career he was a very sought after painter and worked plenty of orders.

This was the common way for painters to work back then, until the artistic revolution of the impressionist painters.

When he arrived at Skagen for the first time in 1882 he was already a famous painter, so his presence created a lot of popularity to the town.

Krøyer was quite fascinated with the life of the town, and when he married Marie Krøyer, they lived permanently in Skagen from 1891.

One of his most iconic masterpieces Summer Evening in Skagen Sønderstrand from 1893 is one of the most famous works from this period.

The painting was sold to German Lilli Lehman, and was therefore located for a long time in Germany.

For reasons unknown, the painting ended up on auction in 1978, where there were many potential buyers.

The highest bidder was the German Axel Springer, and the price was the highest ever for a Danish artwork.

Springer understood the agony of Danish art lovers, so he made arrangements to donate the painting to Skagens Kunstmuseer after his death.

In the course of the early 1900s, Krøyer became ill and was admitted to a psychiatric hospital. Consequently his wife asked for a divorce so she could marry her new husband.

Marie moved to Sweden and left behind their daughter, Vibeke Krøyer in Skagen.

Krøyer died in 1909, only 58 years old and was buried in Skagen. | © Art Museums of Skagen

Peder Severin Krøye (1851-1909) è stato un pittore Norvegese naturalizzato danese, uno dei più amati artisti della confraternita dei pittori di Skagen, un movimento artistico, osservato verso la fine del XIX secolo nel comune danese di Skagen.

I principali esponenti furono Michael ed Anna Ancher, e soprattutto Krøyer.

Non lontani dall'impressionismo, formavano un circolo e raccolsero molte delle opere in un'esposizione permanente da loro ideata, lo Skagens Museum.

Tra il 1877-1881, Krøjer fece molti viaggi di studio e di lavoro, incontrando varie correnti pittoriche e conoscendo molti artisti tra cui gli impressionisti Claude Monet, Alfred Sisley, Edgar Degas, Pierre-Auguste Renoir ed il loro anticipatore Édouard Manet.

Continuò per tutta la vita a viaggiare da una nazione all'altra, sempre molto interessato alle culture straniere e alle loro tendenze artistiche.

Morì nel 1909 di sifilide, dopo una decina di anni di agonia durante i quali divenne quasi completamente cieco e produsse alcune tra le opere più intense della sua carriera.

L'opera più nota di Krøjer è Sera d'estate sulla spiaggia di Skagen, 1893. Le scene sulla spiaggia - Plein-air painting - sono tra i suoi soggetti preferiti, tra bagnanti, giochi in acqua e pescatori.