Mette Harbo Lehmann

This catalogue accompanies the first major exhibition in the UK dedicated to Anna Ancher (1859 – 1935), considered to be one the most innovative artists in Danish art history. Bringing together recently discovered paintings from Anna Ancher’s home, alongside an extensive body of work made throughout the artist’s long career, the exhibition will feature more than 40 of her paintings, including the artist’s most famous masterpieces on special loan from Art Museums of Skagen. A central figure of the Skagen artist colony, based at the northernmost point of Jutland, Ancher is widely considered to be the most significant female painter in Danish art history. She is widely celebrated in her homeland yet remains relatively unknown to British audiences. Ancher was an influential figure of the Scandinavian ‘Modern Breakthrough’ movement that sought to capture real life, demonstrated in her intimate, observational works, which documented everyday experiences in the fishing town of Skagen. Influenced by her travels to Paris, as well as French Impressionism, the artist produced vivid interiors and evocative landscape scenes in which light becomes the central figure. The exhibition will demonstrate Ancher’s bold approach to colour and radical interpretation of everyday scenes as a truly pioneering modern painter.

Viggo Johansen (1851-1935) var en særlig skagensmaler. Berømt på sin egen tid og stadig virtuos og aktuel, når øjnene hviler på ham i dag. Imidlertid er han ikke i eftertiden blevet kanoniseret i samme grad som dem, han malede i nærheden af: P. S. Krøyer, Anna Ancher, Michael Ancher og resten af dansk kunsts absolutte top i slutningen af 1800-tallet. Viggo Johansen udfordrede de kunstneriske grænser for, hvad man kunne tillade sig at skildre fra livet inden for hjemmets fire vægge. Ofte afbildede han hverdagens gøremål med hustruen Marthas arbejde, centreret om hjemmets seks børn, eller parrets selskabelige middage i lampeoplyste stuer. Når han vendte blikket væk fra hjemmet, rettede han gerne opmærksomheden mod bagsiderne og udkanten i sine mennesketomme landskaber fra Skagen eller Dragør. Med sine smukke, intime og stemningsfulde motiver bidrog Viggo Johansen til udviklingen af det moderne maleri.

Viggo Johansen (1851–1935) was a distinctive figure among the Skagenpainters, renowned in his own time and still dazzlingly brilliant and relevant to modern-day eyes. Even so, he has not been canonised to the same degree as some of his contemporaries: Peder Severin Krøyer, Anna Ancher, Michael Ancher, and other luminaries of late nineteenth-century Danish art. Johansen pushed the boundaries for what was considered appropriate subject matter in art, delving deep into intimate domestic life. He often portrayed the everyday chores of his wife, Martha Johansen, centred on their six children, or the couple’s dinner parties in lamp-lit rooms. When he raised his gaze from hearth and home, he often turned to the marginsand overlooked aspects of life, as seen in his empty landscapes of Skagen or Dragør. With his beautiful, intimate and densely atmospheric scenes, Viggo Johansen significantly contributed to the development of modern painting.

‘A lover of light’: in 1912, a French critic used these words to describe the great Danish painter Peder Severin Krøyer, who had close ties to the French art scene for more than two decades. Krøyer first visited Paris in 1877, and his many letters clearly show the impact French art had on Krøyer’s own development as a painter, on the artists’ colony in Skagen, and on Danish art history in general. In Krøyer and Paris. French Connections and Nordic Colours, art historians Mette Harbo Lehmann and Dominique Lobstein describe Krøyer’s artistic development from the Golden Age tradition favoured by the Danish academy to Naturalism and the Modern Breakthrough. They show how inspiration from France can be traced in his painting technique and his open-air paintings from Skagen, revealing how French Naturalism made its mark on Krøyer’s distinctive style.

The lover of light': these were the words used in 1928 by a French critic seeking to describe the great Danish painter Peder Severin Krøyer (1851-1909), who had close ties to the French art scene for more than two decades. Krøyer first arrived in Paris in 1877, and his diaries and travel notes speak eloquently of the crucial impact that French art had on not just Krøyer's own development as a painter, but also on the artists' colony in Skagen and Danish art history in general. In the book, art historians Mette Harbo Lehmann and Dominique Lobstein describe Krøyer's artistic development, progressing from the Royal Danish Art Academy's focus on Danish Golden Age tradition to the advent of Realism and the Modern Breakthrough. They show how inspiration from France can be traced in his atmospheric paintings, especially from Skagen, and point out how French Impressionism influenced Krøyer's distinctive style. The book accompanies the exhibition Krøyer and Paris, on display at the Skagen Museum from 13 May to 18 September 2022, but also constitutes an independent contribution to the study of Krøyer's works and his French connections.