Scandinavian Art

James Lucas - June 2022

Scandinavian Art

Scandinavian art or Nordic art when mentioned in conversation, conjures images of wide open spaces and blue skies reflecting the long summer days of these Northern Couuntries. Our collection of Scandinavian paintings does indeed include many of these wonderful landscapes , however, we have also delved a little deeper into the works generated by artists from this region to include many of the Hammershoi interiors and provocative works by Elin Danielson-Gambogi.

Selected Nordic artists

Vilhelm Hammershøi was born in 1864 in Copenhagen, Denmark. The son of a well-to-do merchant, Christian Hammershøi, and his wife, Frederikke (née Rentzmann), Hammershøi studied drawing from the age of eight with Niels Christian Kierkegaard and Holger Grønvold, as well as painting with Vilhelm Kyhn, before embarking on studies with Frederik Vermehren and others at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts. From 1883 to 1885, he studied with Peder Severin Krøyer at the Independent Study Schools, then debuted in the Charlottenborg Spring Exhibition in 1885 with Portrait of a Young Girl (his sister, Anna; Pierre-Auguste Renoir is reported to have admired this painting). Hammershøi married Ida Ilsted in 1891.
Hammershøi's wife figures in many of his interiors, often depicted from behind. Ida is also the model in many similar works by her brother, Peter Ilsted. Peter and Vilhelm were lifelong friends, business partners, and colleagues. The Metropolitan Museum of Art held an exhibition of their collective works in 2001, and there was an exhibition of his works in 2008 at the Royal Academy of London.

Carl Vilhelm Holsøe (Aarhus, 12 March 1863 – Asserbo, 7 November 1935) was a Danish artist who primarily painted interiors. Holsøe was born in Aarhus. His father was the architect N. P. C. Holsøe; his younger brother Niels Holsøe was also a painter. He studied at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts in Copenhagen in 1882–84 and then at the Kunstnernes Frie Studieskoler under Peder Severin Krøyer. He received several stipends from the academy, in one instance visiting Italy in 1897.

Peder Severin Krøyer (23 July 1851 – 21 November 1909), known as P. S. Krøyer, was a Danish painter. He is one of the best known and beloved, and the most colorful of the Skagen Painters, a community of Danish and Nordic artists who lived, gathered or worked in Skagen, Denmark, especially during the final decades of the 19th century. Krøyer was the unofficial leader of the group.

Elin Danielson-Gambogi (3 September 1861 – 31 December 1919) was a Finnish painter, best known for her realist works and portraits. Danielson-Gambogi was part of the first generation of Finnish women artists who received professional education in art, the so-called "painter sisters' generation".

Laurits Andersen Ring (15 August 1854 – 10 September 1933) was one of the foremost Danish painters of the turn of the 20th century, who pioneered both symbolism and social realism in Denmark. Considered one of the masterpieces of Danish culture, his painting Summer Day by Roskilde Fjord was included in the 2006 Danish Culture Canon.

One hundred years ago, Anders Zorn (1860-1920) was among Europe’s most celebrated artists. Kings, presidents, bankers and cultural figures lined up to have their portraits painted by the Swede, and his etchings commanded prices higher than almost any other artist.

Popular Scandinavian Prints