DOI issue:
No. 133 (March, 1908)
DOI article:Bröchner, Georg: A Danish painter: Peter Severin Kröyer
DOI Page / Citation link: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.28254#0053
P. S. Kroyer, Danish Painter
“an evening gossip” by p. s. kroyer
1889), where he boasts two delightful residences,
one in Copenhagen and one, his summer home, at
the Skaw. Like his famous Swedish confrere, Anders
Zorn, however, he is somewhat cosmopolitan in his
tastes, often visiting' foreign countries, more
especially France and Italy, a certain restlessness
at times seeming to take possession of him.
Two things at once strike one in connection with
this painter: his absolute mastery of his material,
be it oil or water-colour, charcoal or pastel, and
his marked preference for depicting the men and
women, the scenes and scenery, with whom and
with which the ordinary flow of life brings him
in contact, but the beauties of which he views with
the susceptible eye of a true artist and with the
quick and discerning glance of a keen observer.
Imaginative subjects have never much appealed to
Kroyer, less and less as time went on, and the
natural limitations to the scope of his work are
more temperamental than technical, more mental
than manual. Technical difficulties in fact do not
seem to exist for him, and he has perhaps a happier
hand than any of his contemporaries—wonderfully
sure and wonderfully quick. As Kroyer once in
after-life said to one of his old professors from the
academy : “ I assure you, professor, I seem simply
able to breathe my pictures on to the canvas.”
Although the incidental always has possessed a
distinct attraction for Kroyer, and although his
forte is not to be found in the composing of a picture,,
he is simply eminent in arranging, always in perfect
harmony with the subject before him, whether he
wishes to render the careless grace of a child or
the serene dignity of an assembly of celebrities.
Kroyer, who is the best of comrades, has given to
the world a number of enchanting studies and
sketches of Danish artists and artist life, at the same
time that he has painted several huge monumental
canvases portraying large bodies of men. He is
altogether an admirable portrayer, more especially
perhaps by his gift of grasping telling and character-
istic traits and of conveying them to the canvas
or the paper, than by trying to fathom the very
depths of his sitter’s mental physiognomy. His
portraits however seem to live, which according to
a certain ancient Italian authority on art is praise
indeed, but whilst some of the old masters might
paint for years on the same portrait, Kroyer “ knocks
33
“an evening gossip” by p. s. kroyer
1889), where he boasts two delightful residences,
one in Copenhagen and one, his summer home, at
the Skaw. Like his famous Swedish confrere, Anders
Zorn, however, he is somewhat cosmopolitan in his
tastes, often visiting' foreign countries, more
especially France and Italy, a certain restlessness
at times seeming to take possession of him.
Two things at once strike one in connection with
this painter: his absolute mastery of his material,
be it oil or water-colour, charcoal or pastel, and
his marked preference for depicting the men and
women, the scenes and scenery, with whom and
with which the ordinary flow of life brings him
in contact, but the beauties of which he views with
the susceptible eye of a true artist and with the
quick and discerning glance of a keen observer.
Imaginative subjects have never much appealed to
Kroyer, less and less as time went on, and the
natural limitations to the scope of his work are
more temperamental than technical, more mental
than manual. Technical difficulties in fact do not
seem to exist for him, and he has perhaps a happier
hand than any of his contemporaries—wonderfully
sure and wonderfully quick. As Kroyer once in
after-life said to one of his old professors from the
academy : “ I assure you, professor, I seem simply
able to breathe my pictures on to the canvas.”
Although the incidental always has possessed a
distinct attraction for Kroyer, and although his
forte is not to be found in the composing of a picture,,
he is simply eminent in arranging, always in perfect
harmony with the subject before him, whether he
wishes to render the careless grace of a child or
the serene dignity of an assembly of celebrities.
Kroyer, who is the best of comrades, has given to
the world a number of enchanting studies and
sketches of Danish artists and artist life, at the same
time that he has painted several huge monumental
canvases portraying large bodies of men. He is
altogether an admirable portrayer, more especially
perhaps by his gift of grasping telling and character-
istic traits and of conveying them to the canvas
or the paper, than by trying to fathom the very
depths of his sitter’s mental physiognomy. His
portraits however seem to live, which according to
a certain ancient Italian authority on art is praise
indeed, but whilst some of the old masters might
paint for years on the same portrait, Kroyer “ knocks
33