While they painted, they photographed. Or were photographed. The artists who formed a collective in Skagen in the latter half of the 1800s and Danish photographers from the same period have left behind an impressive, fun and inspiring photo collection. Parts of it will be exhibited at Skagens Museum for the very first time from February 8th-September 14th of 2025.
The Skagen painters are usually associated with well-considered compositions and perfectly executed oil paintings, but this exhibition takes us beyond the canvasses. It allows us to participate in the lives they led in Skagen at the time – the work, the motifs they were fascinated by, the parties, the relationships and much, much more.
Photography was the most modern thing imaginable in the 1830s and beyond and so were both the photographers and their models. It was quite rare that such an advanced technology found its way to a location as secluded as Skagen, but the small town brimmed with contrasts – hard working local fishermen and their families, bohemian artists and decadent tourists, rugged nature and beautifully staged parties coexisted.
The collection of photographs from Skagen exudes spontaneity, but also forces the viewer to stop and take a closer look: at the gaze of a weather-beaten fisherman, at Vibeke Krøyer on horseback with J.F. Willumsen, at three laughing girls on a rocking sofa, at Anna Ancher laughing out loud at a concentrated Carl Locher painting in really bad weather, and at all the other moments.
The exhibition also focuses on photography as a medium and the many photographers who, through the lens of the camera, show us the look in their eyes – just like a painter – and the different cameras and techniques they used to capture the moment.
