Exhibited: The Nivaagaard Collection, “Venskabsportrætter fra Rom”, 2016, Cat. No. 47, mentioned p. 71, ill. p. 70.

Provenance: Circolo Scandinavo / Skandinavisk Forening i Rom (Inv. No. A 34).

Eilif Peterssen was educated as a history painter in both Norway, Denmark and Germany. He began his education in Kristiania at Johan Fredrik Eckersberg's (1822–1870) painting school, from where he left to go to Copenhagen to study at Christian Vilhelm Nielsen's (1833–1910) drawing school together with the painters Michael Ancher (1849–1927) and Fritz Thaulow (1847–1906). However, the base of his artistic practice was laid during his years in Karlsruhe and later Munich. It was in Munich in 1875 that Eilif Peterssen and Krøyer first met and the first time they portrayed each other.

In 1879–83, Peterssen was staying in Italy, where he met Krøyer again, and they were together on several occasions for longer periods of time, e.g. in Rome and Sora. On the same day - 22nd of April 1881 in Rome - Peterssen and Krøyer portrayed each other again. In red chalk, Peterssen has drawn Krøyer in profile, looking to the right; his chin is slightly raised, his eyebrows are a bit wrinkled and the expression in his gaze is more determined than Krøyer's portrait of Peterssen, which is more mild. A new era in Peterssen's artistic practice began during his stay in Italy, where Peterssen was introduced to modern trends, i. a. conveyed through Krøyer.

In 1883, Peterssen visited Skagen for the first time, where he spent the summer with Krøyer, but also the painters Wilhelm Peters (1815–1883), Oscar Björck (1860–1929) and the married couple Michael and Anna Ancher (1859–1935). Here, Peterssen was again inspired by Krøyer and practiced the plein-air painting together with the rest of the artist colony in Skagen. Peterssen kept the contact with his Scandinavian friends, even though he returned to Norway more permanently.