Northern Light – the Artists' Colony at Skagen

Art Works from Skagen up for auction

The Live Auction takes place on 10 June 7 pm at Nørgaardsvej 3 in Lyngby and the subsequent Online Auction on 17 June at bruun-rasmussen.dk. Here, we will provide a rich insight into the wonderful art created by the groundbreaking community of artists – painters who arrived in Skagen, bringing with them the most modern thinking and European currents. The plein-air studio unfolded in full bloom, and the motifs revolved around the sunlight, the beach, festive events in the artists’ colony, the poor local people and the often-harsh life of the fishermen. The best-known names in the colony were the painters P.S. Krøyer, Michael Ancher, Laurits Tuxen, Holger Drachmann, Anna Ancher, Viggo Johansen, Carl Locher and Marie Krøyer. At the two auctions we are presenting art works by all the Skagen painters. 

Anna Ancher – Colourism, Light and a Quiet Fervour

Anna Ancher (née Brøndum) (1859-1935) depicted Skagen, the colours and the light like no other Skagen painter. Her artistic repertoire includes heartfelt portraits of people close to her as well as the quiet lives of women and children with the interior as a frame, while she also mastered the depiction of Skagen’s landscapes, religious motifs and social issues. A consistent feature in Anna Ancher’s works is her uniquely pure way of using colour and light to evoke a mood so clearly that nothing like it had been seen before in Danish art. Her iconic depictions of the inflow of light on the walls of people’s homes create reflections that we know from French Impressionism, while her focus on colour and flickering brushstrokes rather than on narrative points towards a modernist approach to art.

Read more about Anna Ancher

Michael Ancher – An Epic About the Harsh Life of Man

When it comes to depicting the harsh life at Skagen, Michael Ancher (1849-1927) stands out clearly from the rest of the Skagen painters. His genre paintings tell everyday stories with a realistic brush that does not filter out the harsh truth. From depictions of the fishermen’s quiet days on the beach with pipes in their mouths while the fishing nets are mended, to their often dangerous trips out at sea, where the struggle to earn a living could result in death. Michael Ancher’s vivid depictions show how he not only used the local population as his subjects but that he was deeply involved in the people depicted. He was a well-known painter who stands in Danish art history as a bridge builder between the traditions of the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts and the realism of the Skagen painters.

Read more about Michael Ancher

Peder Severin Krøyer – Light Above All Else

Peder Severin (P.S.) Krøyer (1851-1909) is one of the most central figures in the Modern Breakthrough of Danish art, alongside Vilhelm Hammershøi and Laurits Andersen Ring. P.S. Krøyer was also one of the finest Skagen painters who throughout his artistic career was preoccupied with light above all else. With quick and spontaneous brushstrokes, he seized the light of the moment and brought it to life on the canvas like no other painter. It is especially P.S. Krøyer’s motifs from Skagen, which brought him international fame and recognition. In the same way as with the light, he succeeded in recreating the lifeblood of the area through depictions of the artists’ colourful lives and special moonlit evenings by the sea.

Read more about Peder Severin Krøyer

Marie Krøyer – Naturalist and Colourist

Strolling closely with Anna Ancher by the water’s edge and under the moonlight at Skagen. This is how Marie Krøyer (née Triepcke) (1867-1940) is known to many from Peder Severin Krøyer’s painting “Summer Evening at Skagen Sønderstrand”. As an artist, she stood in the shadow of her husband, who was one of the country’s most famous artists, but Marie Krøyer was also a talented artist in her own right. She was a true colourist and naturalist with a keen sense of observation. In addition to painting, she had a particularly good eye for design and interior decoration with inspiration from the English Arts & Crafts movement.

Read more about Marie Krøyer

Viggo Johansen – the Master of Moods

A homely interior mood with the glow of a lamplight on a family’s everyday life and celebrations. Viggo Johansen (1851-1935) is the artist among the Skagen painters most associated with and recognized for depicting life at home. As a true romantic with a distinct sense of moods, he continued in the footsteps of the Danish Golden Age by maintaining the beautiful and picturesque in intimate and quiet interior paintings with primarily his wife and children going about their daily errands. His motifs were later expanded to also include the landscapes of Skagen with poetic and luminous colours inspired by French Impressionism as well as portraits seen in a realistic perspective.

Read more about Viggo Johansen

Holger Drachmann – the Sea as a Focal Point

Most Danes know Holger Drachmann (1846-1908) from “The Midsummer Song”, which he wrote in 1885. Today, this song is still sung around the Midsummer’s Eve bonfires all over the country. The multi-talented Holger Drachmann was an eminent painter, poet, writer, playwright and respected art critic. He was also somewhat of a celebrity and controversial personality in Danish cultural life, since this free-spirited lifestyle did not always fit with the norms of the time. This reputation also helped shape the subsequent myths about the great artist. Together with the Norwegian painter Frits Thaulow, Holger Drachmann visited Skagen in 1872, and here he discovered a haven, where he found artistic inspiration in nature and the local population. He encouraged other artists and free-thinking bohemians to make the journey to Skagen, and together they established the artists’ colony.

Read more about Holger Drachmann

Laurits Tuxen – from Portraits of Princes to the Nature of Skagen

As both a portrait painter of Europe’s most important nobel and royal families and a Skagen painter inspired by the nature around his house, Laurits Tuxen’s (1853-1927) artistic work ranges widely, which makes him a highly interesting painter. Just like Peder Severin Krøyer, Laurits Tuxen was named as one of the great artistic talents of the 19th century early on in his life. In contrast to his grandiose portraits of members of the European nobility, it was the intimate motifs with family, friends and the landscape at Skagen that preoccupied the artist. Tuxen was clearly inspired by the ideas of Vitalism and focused on life under the sun and the nude body.

Read more about Laurits Tuxen and see all lots