An Introduction to Five Great Scandinavian Artists

From the scream to the silence: these are five of the most important artists in the Scandinavian canon

The stunning dramatic landscapes, long summer nights and freezing winters inspired these Nordic artists to produce some of the finest works of Modern art. Here are five paintings you should know:

The Scream- Edvard Munch
The Scream is undoubtedly one of the most famous images in the history of art — so much so that it has become a part of pop culture — but what is it actually about? Munch suffered greatly from anxiety and depression, and he described this painting as a depiction of a moment of sheer panic he once experienced when looking at a dramatic blood-red sunset over the Kristiania fjord — which would also form the backdrop of another of his best paintings, Anxiety. As in Van Gogh’s The Starry Night, the intensity and swirling instability of the the natural landscape is a manifestation of the artist’s inner turmoil. In a broader context though, the painting is also indicative of the broader sense of public anxiety experienced in an increasingly secular, commercial and unstable modern world.

The Scream Edvard Munch 1910 (From the collection of the Munch Museum) 

Summer Evening at Skagen Beach. The Painter and his Wife- Peder Krøyer
Peder Krøyer was one of the most prominent Skagen painters—a community of artists who congregated every summer in this fishing village in northern Denmark in the 1870-80s and painted the landscape and local inhabitants. The beach at Skagen recurs frequently as the setting of Krøyer’s art, with this painting of the artist on a stroll with his wife and dog, perhaps the most famous. Here we’re presented with an idyllic, perfectly tranquil evening scene; Krøyer and his wife Marie seem to have stopped in their tracks to drink in the beauty of their surroundings, while the soft moonlight reflected in the sea gives the picture an ethereal glow.

Summer Evening at Skagen Beach. The Painter and his Wife Peder Krøyer 1889 (From the collection of the Hirschsprung Collection)

Summer Evening is just one of several paintings by Krøyer on display at the Hirschsprung Collection. Check out the rest of them on Museum View below.

Stetind in Fog Peder Balker 1864 (From the collection of the National Museum for Art, Architecture and Design, Norway)

Stetind in Fog hangs alongside other dramatic landscapes by Balke and his Nordic contemporaries. Check them out in Museum View below:

Interior with the Artist's Easel Vilhelm Hammershøi 1910 (From the collection of the Statens Museum for Kunst) 

Friends- Hanna Hirsch Pauli
Hanna Hirsch Pauli was a student at the Royal Swedish Academy of Arts in Stockholm which was at the time one of very few institutions which gave access to formal training to upcoming female artists. She became known predominantly for portraits such as this one which depicts a gathering of the artist’s friends — a who’s who of cultural elites including her husband, the artist Georg Pauli, the actress Olga Björkegren, the author Klas Fåhreus and the controversial philosopher Ellen Key who is reading to the group. The warm lamp light and proximity of the subjects to one another suggests a cosiness and makes us almost wish we were part of this tight-knit gang.