Skip to content
P.S. Krøyer: 'Morning at Hornbæk. The Fishermen come ashore'. (1875). The Hirschsprung Collection
P.S. Krøyer: 'Morning at Hornbæk. The Fishermen come ashore'. (1875). The Hirschsprung Collection

P.S. Krøyer and the artists’ colony in Hornbæk

15 May 2019 - 1 September 2019

Join us for a summery trip to the north of Zealand, specifically to Hornbæk, as the museum focuses on one of the first artists’ colonies in Denmark. The artists’ colony in Skagen is familiar to many, but in fact many of the Skagen painters met in Hornbæk long before then. In 1873, a very young P.S. Krøyer arrived in Hornbæk in the company of fellow artists Frants Henningsen, Viggo Johansen and Kristian Zahrtmann. Other artists joined the colony later, including Holger Drachmann and Carl Locher.

Settling in along northern coastline of Zealand, the young painters were fascinated by the sea, the broad beaches, the blue hills of Kullen on the horizon and the windswept trees of the plantations. But they were also intrigued by the weather-beaten faces of the local fishermen and their tales of peril on the sea. The exhibition P.S. Krøyer and the artists’ colony in Hornbæk sheds light on the artists’ time in the town through letters, sketches, watercolours and paintings from the museum collection.

P.S. Krøyer: 'Hornbæk fisher',1874, The Hirschsprung Collection
P.S. Krøyer: 'Hornbæk fisher',1874, The Hirschsprung Collection
Frants Henningsen: 'From the beach at Hornbæk'. 1883. The Hirshsprung Collection
Frants Henningsen: 'From the beach at Hornbæk'. 1883. The Hirshsprung Collection
‘I had a splendid summer this year – well, not as far as the weather was concerned, for it was stormy and restless – but rather because I was, for the first time ever, able to spend an entire summer in the countryside out in the open air, far removed from the troubles and drudgeries of the city, and with three other painters whom I count among my very best acquaintances; all this has been to me a tremendous pleasure. We enjoyed some lovely trips (being based in Hornbæk on the north coast of Zealand); we went on a sailing trip to Kullen, on excursions to Gurre, Nakkehoved, to Tisvilde on Midsummer Night and to various places besides. The way of life there was utterly attractive: to venture out into the fresh, clear water en compagnie in the mornings (I learnt to swim there); and the pleasant evenings spent either walking in the woods or the beaches or in conversation back home in our pleasant digs, speaking and smoking our pipes; a splendid, idyllic life’.

A young P.S. Krøyer, only twenty-two years of age, reports on his first sojourn in Hornbæk.

Carl Locher: 'The coast of Hornbæk', unknown year, Statens Museum for kunst. SMK Foto/Jakob Skou-Hansen
Carl Locher: 'The coast of Hornbæk', unknown year, Statens Museum for kunst. SMK Foto/Jakob Skou-Hansen
Carl Locher: 'Hornbæk Church, Summer Evening',
1887, Statens Museum for kunst. SMK Foto/Jakob Skou-Hansen
Carl Locher: 'Hornbæk Church, Summer Evening',
1887, Statens Museum for kunst. SMK Foto/Jakob Skou-Hansen