Peder Severin Kroyer

Peder Severin Krøyer was a Danish painter of the late 19th and early 20th century. He was born in Stavanger, Norway, in 1851, to a Norwegian mother and a Danish father. He was raised by his foster parents in Copenhagen, where he studied at the Royal Danish Academy of Art. He won a gold medal and a scholarship in 1873, which enabled him to travel to Paris and study under Léon Bonnat. He was influenced by the impressionist movement and the works of Claude Monet, Alfred Sisley, Edgar Degas, and others. He returned to Denmark in 1882 and settled in Skagen, a fishing village on the northern tip of Denmark, where he became part of the artists' colony known as the Skagen Painters. He painted many scenes of the local life, the natural environment, and the artistic community, often using bright colors and loose brushstrokes. He also painted portraits of his friends and family, including his wife Marie Krøyer, whom he married in 1889. She was also a painter and a model for many of his works. Their marriage was unhappy, however, as Krøyer suffered from mental illness and Marie had an affair with the Swedish composer Hugo Alfvén. They divorced in 1905 and Krøyer died in 1909 from skin cancer. He was buried in Skagen Cemetery, next to his fellow Skagen Painters. He is widely regarded as one of the most important Danish painters of his time and his works are exhibited in many museums and galleries in Denmark and abroad.