Born: Stavanger, 1851
Died: Skagen, 1909
Danish artist, Peter Severin Kroyer was actually born in Stravenger, in Norway, in 1851 and he became the most famous of the Danish ‘painters of light’ of the nineteenth century.
A very versatile artist, Kroyer’s work depicted a wide range of themes, including seascapes, portraits, landscapes and genre scenes although he also practiced sculpture, engraving and watercolor. A student at the Academy of Copenhagen, he traveled frequently, and particularly to Paris, where he became a pupil of the eminent teacher, Bonnat, and where he was inspired by the work of the Impressionists to emphasize the use of light more in his paintings.
Kroyer was awarded many prestigious prizes throughout his career and he became a Chevalier de la Legion d’Honneur in 1888. Many of his greatest paintings are held by the Museum of Copenhagen. P S Kroyer died in the artists’ colony at Skagen in 1909.