Christian Krohg

Christian Krohg
Born	August 13, 1852(1852-08-13) Vestre Aker, Norway
Died	October 16, 1925(1925-10-16) (aged 73) Christiania, Norway
Nationality	Norwegian
Field	Norwegian naturalist painter
Training	Hans Gude
Movement	Naturalism
Influenced	Anna Ancher Michael Ancher Oda Krohg

For the politician of the same name, see Christian Krohg (government minister).

Christian Krohg (August 13, 1852 – October 16, 1925), was a Norwegian naturalist painter, illustrator, author and journalist.

Life and career

Krohg was the son of lawyer and statesman Georg Anton Krohg (1817–73) and the grandson of Christian Krohg (1777–1828) who was a government minister. Krohg studied law at the University of Oslo (then Christiania) (1869–73) and was educated in Germany at the Baden School of Art in Karlsruhe under Hans Gude,^[1] and later worked in Paris from 1881 to 1882.

Inspired by the ideas of the realists he chose motives primarily from everyday life – often its darker or socially inferior sides. Particularly well known are his pictures of prostitutes, his novel Albertine from 1886 is about this theme. The book caused a scandal when first published, and was confiscated by the police. (See also related painting in the gallery below).

Krohg’s powerful and straightforward style made him one of the leading figures in the transition from romanticism to naturalism, characteristic of Norwegian art in this period. Through his periodic residence at Skagen, where he arrived for the first time in 1879, he had great influence on Anna and Michael Ancher, and provided early support to Edvard Munch.

Krohg was the founding editor of the Bohemian journal, Impressionisten, in 1886. He then became a journalist in the Oslo newspaper Verdens Gang from 1890 to 1910, where he wrote remarkable portrait interviews. Later he became a professor director at the Norwegian National Academy of Fine Arts|The Norwegian Academy of Arts (Statens Kunstakademi) 1909-1925.

He was married to artist Oda Krohg and was the father of muralist Per Lasson Krohg. There are notable paintings by Christian Krohg in the National Museum of Art, Architecture and Design in Oslo and the Skagens Museum in Denmark.

Paintings

• 

  Albertine i politilægens venteværelse (Albertine at the Police Doctor's Waiting Room, 1885-87)

• 

  Kampen for tilværelsen (Struggle for existence. 1889)

• 

  Trett (Tired. 1885)

• 

  Selvportrett med staffeli (Self-portrait with easel. 1912)

• 

  Sovende mor med barn (Sleeping mother with child. 1883)

• 

  Håret flettes (The hair is being braided. 1882)

• 

  Oda Krohg (Portrait of Oda Krohg. 1886)

• 

  Til Vaers (Into the air)

• 

  Leiv Eriksson oppdager Amerika (Leif Erikson discovers America. 1893)

• 

  Babord litt (Port side. 1879)

• 

  Silda Kommer (Herring upcoming)

• 

  17 mai 1893 (May 17, 1893)

References

Notes

1. ^ Haverkamp, Frode (in Norwegian). Hans Fredrik Gude: From National Romanticism to Realism in Landscape. trans. Joan Fuglesang. 

Sources

• Thue, Oscar Christian Krohg (Aschehoug, 1997)
• Thue, Oscar Christian Krohgs portretter (Gyldendal, 1971)

External links

• Christian Krohg Gallery
• Christian Krohg and Skagen

Persondata
Name	Krohg, Christian
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	August 13, 1852
Place of birth	Vestre Aker, Norway
Date of death	October 16, 1925
Place of death	Christiania, Norway