The Skaw Painters

The artists' colony at Skagen/
The Skaw Painters
The Skaw is a little town in Jutland on the very top of Denmark where light and water from two seas, Kattegat and Skagerak, break above the northern-most tip Grenen. The Skaw was known for its very special light that attracted painters in the late 1800's. The painters found their motifs among fishermen and peasants.

The Skagen Painters were a group of Scandinavian artists who visited the area every summer from the late 1870s until the turn of the century. They were attracted by the scenery, the fishermen and the quality of light which encouraged them to paint en plein air following the example of the French Impressionists while sometimes adopting the Realist approach of the Barbizon School. They broke away from the rigid traditions of the Danish and Swedish art academies, preferring the modern trends they had experienced in Paris.

The group was reputed to have adopted a bohemian lifestyle. It encompassed not only painters, but also writers, and other influential people. While only a few were full-time residents of the area, they were often joined by family and friends, especially during the summer months. The group initially revolved around Michael Ancher and his wife to be Anna, the only member of the group who was a native of Skagen. P.S. Krøyer, who arrived in 1882, was perhaps the most colourful member of the group. His painting Hip, Hip, Hurrah! shows several of the artists celebrating around a table out in the garden. The painters included the Swedes Oscar Björck and Johan Krouthén, the Norwegians Christian Krohg and Eilif Peterssen, and the Danes Karl Madsen, Laurits Tuxen, Marie Triepcke Krøyer Alfvén, Carl Locher, Viggo Johansen and Thorvald Niss. The group also included the writers Holger Drachmann, Georg Brandes and Henrik Pontoppidan and the Swedish composer Hugo Alfvén. They often gathered in Brøndums Hotel whose dining room now forms part of Skagens Museum.

@KLL/-