Portrait of Painter Peder Severin Kröyer Laurits Regner Tuxen

Tuxen was a Danish sculptor and painter born in Copenhagen. It was not by chance that he painted a full-length portrait of Krøyer, as the two artists’ career paths crossed at several points: both attended the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts around the same time, and each was considered among the most talented students of their year. After graduating from the academy, they both continued their studies at Léon Bonnag’s school in Paris, and they were both members of the Skagen group of painters. They were also founding members and later teachers of the Kunstnernes Frie Studieskoler, which offered an alternative to academic education.
After Paris, Tuxen spent a year in Rome, where he was inspired by naturalism, which he later introduced to his pupils in Denmark, paving the way for twentieth-century modernism in his country.
In the 1880s and 1890s he travelled around Europe and worked for royalty such as King Christian IX of Denmark, Queen Victoria of England, and the Russian imperial family.
Tuxen painted his portrait Krøyer by the seaside in 1904. The setting is certainly Skagen, the northernmost point of Denmark and home to one of Europe’s most important artist colonies, where Krøyer was a major figure and driving force. As the painter stands on the sandy beach among the gently swaying sedges, the rippling sea behind him, one can almost small the salty sea air and hear the waves.

Rebeka Mrázik