His breakthrough came in 1884, with the first of a series of social realist paintings. It was a hard life in the Danish countryside, and death is never far away.
Krøyer
Brought up in a poor country family, he trained as a sculptor first, then switched to painting. A selection of his early social realist works, comparable with those of Jules Bastien-Lepage.
Miners on strike in the Nord-Pas de Calais coalfield in 1880, a painting which may well have inspired Émile Zola to write his most popular novel, ‘Germinal’.
A social realist whose themes spanned controversial topics such as poverty and prostitution, he was a major influence of Edvard Munch, and central to Nordic and northern European art.
For the latter half of the 19th century, Pont-Aven in Brittany was one of the leading centres for painting in France. Here’s its history, from Weber and Wylie to PS Krøyer and Julian Alden Weir.
The birthplace of Impressionism, and its spread around the world, it also reflected the huge changes in society, leisure, and dress. Let’s soak up the sun.
Initially a portraitist and history painter, be became strongly Impressionist, painting wonderful landscapes in the late nineteenth century.
An illustrated index of the 61 artists covered in this series, with links to detailed coverage.
Their works are rich in light and colour, strongly evocative of one of the most successful artists colonies of the nineteenth century, and include some of the most lyrical paintings of the whole century.
The Eclectic Light Company 