Peder Severin Krøyer

Anonymous sale, London, Sotheby's, London, 27 March 1990, lot 207;
There purchased by the present collector.

The following condition report has been provided by Simon Parkes of Simon Parkes Art Conservation, Inc. 502 East 74th St. New York, NY 212-734-3920, simonparkes@msn.com , an independent restorer who is not an employee of Sotheby's. This painting is in very fresh and good condition. There are restorations running along the bottom edge which are very loosely applied and may well not necessary; a few of them seem to be immediately around the "S" and the "K" of Skagen. However, if the bottom edge and the remainder of the picture were to be carefully cleaned, the inscription and date will remain, although the retouches will be removed and will possibly not need to be replaced. The painting is generally in lovely condition.
"This lot is offered for sale subject to Sotheby's Conditions of Business, which are available on request and printed in Sotheby's sale catalogues. The independent reports contained in this document are provided for prospective bidders' information only and without warranty by Sotheby's or the Seller."

Krøyer is acclaimed for introducing Impressionism to Denmark. His skill at rendering light and color is evocatively illustrated in the present work. The artist's brushy, broad paint strokes and subtle tonal shifts of deep blue to pale yellow suggest the sea's saturation of sand while dots of bright color draw the eye to the fishermen bringing in their vessel.  Although a pupil of Léon Bonnat in Paris between 1877-9, Krøyer was keenly aware of the Impressionists and met Claude Monet, Alfred Sisley and Edgar Degas during his time in France. On his return to Denmark Krøyer visited Skagen, a remote fishing village on the tip of the Jutland peninsular, where his contemporary Michael Ancher's paintings of local life attracted a growing number of artists. Following his further trip to Paris in the late 1880s and after an exhibition of French paintings in Copenhagen that included works by Monet and Sisley, Krøyer's mature oeuvre became infused with a new dynamism and devotion to the use of color. For the rest of his life the artist continually returned to Skagen where he refined his brilliant plein air technique in capturing the unique light and particular mood of the sea and the people who worked and played along its shores.