Krohg, Christian

Biography in relation to Skagen

In the summer of 1879 Frits Taulow, the Norwegian artist, persuaded Krohg to go to Skagen, and soon Krohg was part of the artists’ colony in Skagen, and he returned to Skagen several times during the 1880’s.

Krohg painted many paintings depicting the Gaihede family who all lived in the same small fisherman’s cottage in Skagen Østerby [the eastern part of Skagen]. He got very close to the members of the family and painted them in the most intimate moments.

1883 he stayed at Miss Storm’s (Miss Mehlsen’s) cottage at Markvej No. 2 together with Charles Lundh and the Swedish painters Oscar Björck and Johan Krouthén. Soon after the cottage became the home of Michael, Anna, and Helga Ancher.

In 1884 Oda Engelhart started as a pupil at Krogh’s Art School for Women in Oslo. Even though Oda was married they started a relationship. One year later their first child, Nana, was born in secrecy in Belgium, and she was not fetched to Norway until 1890.

Oda and Christian were married in 1888, and after the wedding the couple travelled to Skagen where they stayed until Christmas. The married couple lived in part of the Garden house. Also that year Krohg came to Skagen in order to be a model for Krøyer’s painting “Hip, hip Hurra!” which was finished that summer.

From 1893 until 1894 Krohg worked as a correspondent for the daily newspaper “Politiken” and 1894 he visited Skagen for the last time to write about the funeral of the fisherman and rescuer Lars Kruse.

He wrote three articles to the “Politiken”, and later in the same year he published the essay “Skagen” in which he describes the people living in Skagen as a specific race who in nature and looks differs from other Danes.

In 1910 he wrote his last article about “Skagen - Land of the Sea”.

Reading Krohg’s articles on Skagen gives a good impression of the fascination he felt by the special nature and the heroic fishermen.

English translation: Grete Hjort