Marie Krøyer
22 September 2023 - 18 February 2024
In 2023, the Hirschsprung Collection focuses on the artist Marie Triepcke Krøyer Alfvén (1867–1940) with a major exhibition showcasing her art, interior decoration, and design.
The exhibition uncovers new aspects of Marie Krøyer, the circles and networks she navigated, and the sources from which she drew inspiration. The broader aim is to make room for new narratives about Danish late nineteenth-century art, and to place the artist’s work and contributions in an international context.
Marie Krøyer's endeavors evolved in an ongoing interplay with a dynamic and fruitful art scene that flourished around the turn of the century. Her designs and talent for interior decoration caught the eye of many of the period’s leading arbiters of taste, setting new trends. She belonged to the artistic vanguard of the time, and her own artistic practice cuts across a variety of art forms, spanning painting, crafts, design, and interior decoration.
At the end of the nineteenth century, Marie Krøyer became particularly inspired by the English Arts & Crafts movement and the Aesthetic movement, and she is one of the few Danish artists in whom a palpable influence from these movements is evident in her furniture design and interiors. Later, she moved to Sweden, where she married the Swedish composer Hugo Alfvén. In 1909–11, she created her last magnum opus: the interior design of the home they shared, Alfvénsgården, in Tällberg, decorating it in the Nordic folk style.
Until now, the dominant narrative about Marie Krøyer has been the story of a talented artist who married one of Denmark’s most successful and internationally recognized artists, Peder Severin Krøyer, in 1889. As a result of her marriage to the famous Krøyer, she stopped painting and exhibiting in the 1890s, seemingly devoting herself fully to the role of an artist’s wife and mother of the couple’s child, their daughter Vibeke Krøyer. But even though she no longer exhibited after 1891, Marie Krøyer remained an active artist and made her artistic imprint in numerous contexts – including the Krøyers’ homes in Skagen and Copenhagen, as well as several other residences in Skagen.
The exhibition has been created in collaboration with the Art Museums of Skagen.
Marie Krøyer's endeavors evolved in an ongoing interplay with a dynamic and fruitful art scene that flourished around the turn of the century. Her designs and talent for interior decoration caught the eye of many of the period’s leading arbiters of taste, setting new trends. She belonged to the artistic vanguard of the time, and her own artistic practice cuts across a variety of art forms, spanning painting, crafts, design, and interior decoration.
At the end of the nineteenth century, Marie Krøyer became particularly inspired by the English Arts & Crafts movement and the Aesthetic movement, and she is one of the few Danish artists in whom a palpable influence from these movements is evident in her furniture design and interiors. Later, she moved to Sweden, where she married the Swedish composer Hugo Alfvén. In 1909–11, she created her last magnum opus: the interior design of the home they shared, Alfvénsgården, in Tällberg, decorating it in the Nordic folk style.
Until now, the dominant narrative about Marie Krøyer has been the story of a talented artist who married one of Denmark’s most successful and internationally recognized artists, Peder Severin Krøyer, in 1889. As a result of her marriage to the famous Krøyer, she stopped painting and exhibiting in the 1890s, seemingly devoting herself fully to the role of an artist’s wife and mother of the couple’s child, their daughter Vibeke Krøyer. But even though she no longer exhibited after 1891, Marie Krøyer remained an active artist and made her artistic imprint in numerous contexts – including the Krøyers’ homes in Skagen and Copenhagen, as well as several other residences in Skagen.
The exhibition has been created in collaboration with the Art Museums of Skagen.
Marie Krøyer: Self-portrait, 1889. Art Museums of Skagen
The team behind the exhibition
Curators: Mette Bøgh Jensen, Camilla Klitgaard Laursen and Signe Havsteen
Scenography: Mentze Ottenstein
Graphic design: Studio Atlant and Janne Hiort
Restoration: Aggerholm Art and Mette Krag Nørgaard
Exhibition elements: Fao Form
Installation: Zetup Art Service
Light design: Arthur van der Zaag
Curtains: Arne Aksel
Painted four-leaf clover tapestry: Copenhagen Signs
Film: Søgaard Film
Scenography: Mentze Ottenstein
Graphic design: Studio Atlant and Janne Hiort
Restoration: Aggerholm Art and Mette Krag Nørgaard
Exhibition elements: Fao Form
Installation: Zetup Art Service
Light design: Arthur van der Zaag
Curtains: Arne Aksel
Painted four-leaf clover tapestry: Copenhagen Signs
Film: Søgaard Film