Boys Bathing at Skagen. Summer Evening

Among the Skagen painters Krøyer was the most virtuoso and the most acclaimed in his own day. He could create an optimum composition with very few devices. Here, he creates a diagonal movement from the boys in the foreground to the ships on the horizon. The ships – and our gaze – move to the right, reaching the white moonbeam that takes us back to the boy and the beach. With this simple, yet grandiloquent composition Krøyer reaffirmed his narrative about the bright summer nights at Skagen. A narrative that slides effortlessly into place among the many paintings of the period that address the relationship between mankind, the sea, and the light. The motif was particularly beloved by the Vitalist movement within literature and art. The theme is explored further in Room 229 (WILLUMSEN AND VITALISM).