Sunday, February 24, 2019

Evening Talk

Viggo Johansen was one of the painters of Denmark's Skagen group, which was famous for the lively camaraderie of fellow artists over shared meals. In this painting, Johansen evokes the magic of an evening gathered around the lamplight.

Viggo Johansen, Aftenpassiar (Evening Talk) 1886

Peder Krøyer is recognizable at the far left. Sparkling highlights on the table contrast with the rich, soft shadows in the lower area. Johansen was also adept at the keyboard, and enjoyed playing Mozart and Gluck as much as he loved painting.
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Wikipedia on Viggo Johansen
Online: More works by Viggo Johansen

Book: Kroyer and the Artists' Colony at Skagen

4 comments:

Susan Krzywicki said...

Any women invited into the group?

James Gurney said...

Susan, many of the Skagen paintings document mixed gatherings, such as this luncheon party: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peder_Severin_Kr%C3%B8yer#/media/File:Hipp_hipp_hurra!_Konstn%C3%A4rsfest_p%C3%A5_Skagen_-_Peder_Severin_Kr%C3%B8yer.jpg

Christoffer Gertz Bech said...

There were also a couple of women among the painters of the Skagen group. Krøyer's wife, Marie, was a painter, but unfortunately she didn't paint much after her divorce from him.

Anna Ancher, on the other hand, had a very succesful career as an artist. She and her husband, Michael Ancher, were quite different artistic temperaments, but they had a lot of respect for each other as artists and would occasionally work together on paintings.

James Gurney said...

Yes, true. Anna's work is brilliant. And of course there are a couple of women in the very painting we're talking about on the far side of the table.