A DAY ON THE BEACH. Danish Art at the Water’s Edge 1830-1910
20 June 2025 – 11 January 2026
L.A.Ring: Dame ved Karrebæksminde Strand, 1898. SMK.
Denmark is hemmed in by sea and encircled by beaches. There have always been people here, drudging away and working their fingers to the bone. One day in the 19th century, artists discovered beaches. Initially, they were looking for drama – major shipwrecks and groundings – but they went on to become fascinated by the everyday work of the fishermen and the myriad reflections of light in sand and water. The latter half of the 19th century saw the arrival of holidaymakers: now beaches were also a haven for sunbathing.
A DAY ON THE BEACH is a panoramic exhibition that spotlights Danish artists and their perspective on a unique landscape in the years between 1830 and 1914. The paintings reflect major shifts in life on the beach: everything from bodies washed ashore to beachboys; from hard grind to sun-drenched idleness.
The exhibition presents not only familiar, much-loved beach motifs, but also a number of rarely seen gems from Danish art history. The exhibition will be accompanied by the publication of a small catalogue featuring the best pictures in the exhibition with an introduction by the curator, Rasmus Kjærboe, PhD.
Visit the Hirschsprung Collection and follow in the artists’ footsteps – right down to the water’s edge, where sea meets land.
Peder Severin Krøyer: Summer Evening on the South Beach, Skagen Anna Ancher and Marie Krøyer (1893). Oil on canvas. The Hirschsprung Collection
Martinus Rørbye: The Beach at Skagen Vesterby. A Boat Unloading Peat (1847). Oil on canvas. Nivaagaard’s painting collection
Carl Bloch: Fishermen’s Families Awaiting their Return in an Approaching Storm. From the West Coast of Jutland(1858). Oil on canvas. The Hirschsprung Collection
Frants Henningsen: Strandparti fra Hornbæk, 1883. Den Hirschsprungske Samling
The exhibition is supported by
Augustinus Fonden, Ny Carlsbergfondet, Aage og Johanne Louis-Hansens Fond