Provenance: Bruun Rasmussen auction 435, 1982 no. 414, ill. p. 141.

The motif is also known from a photo from Krøyer's private photo album (photo ill. in “P.S. Krøyer's Photographs”, exhibition catalogue, The Hirschsprung Collection 1990, p. 116). Like many other artists of the time, Peder Severin Krøyer took many photographs himself and used them, among other things, as help in connection with the preparation for many of his most famous works - including, among others, “Sommeraften ved Skagens strand. Kunstneren og hans hustru” (Summer evening at the beach at Skagen. The artist and his wife) from 1899 (The Hirschsprung Collection).

In both photo and drawing, the artists Agnes Slott-Møller (1862–1937) and Marie Krøyer (1867–1940) are seen in conversation sitting in Marie and Peder Severin Krøyer's living room in their home in Skagen. They sit in the characteristic slatted sofa, which was designed by Marie Krøyer, whose well known furniture consisting of a sofa, two chairs, a stool and a table decorated the living room. The women's pose is the same in the drawing and photo, but the cropping is slightly different. The drawing shows the two women in full figure, the photo shows only the upper body. Thus, in the drawing, there is also room for the table, designed by Marie. The women's clothing is modern and typical of the period, and both the drawing and photo show Agnes Slott-Møller's characteristic brooch with the motif of a swan.

Agnes and Marie were lifelong friends. They got to know each other in 1885, before each of them got married, and the very close and confidential friendship lasted until Agnes Slott-Møller's death in 1937. Large parts of their correspondence are known, e.g. from the publication “Agnes and Marie. Letters between Agnes Slott-Møller and Marie Krøyer 1885–1937”, ed. Lise Svanholm, 1991.