1870 -1920 · Skagen, Sweden, Norway, Finland and Northern Light

Explore Nordic Impressionism: Zorn, Krøyer, Anna Ancher and their contemporaries adapt the outdoors to Scandinavia's clear nights, interiors, shores and everyday gestures.

Nordic Impressionism brings together Danish, Swedish, Norwegian and Finnish trajectories rather than a single school. From the 1870s, many artists studied in Paris, Munich or Düsseldorf and encountered naturalism, outdoor painting and impressionist research on light. However, they returned to climates, societies and pictorial traditions specific to the North. In Skagen, at the extreme point of Denmark, Peder Severin Krøyer, Anna and Michael Ancher, Laurits Tuxen, Viggo Johansen and Scandinavian visitors formed a summer community. In Skagen, at the extreme point of Denmark, Peder Severin Krøyer, Anna and Michael Ancher, Peder Severin Krøyer, Anna and Michael Ancher, Laurits Tuxen, Viggo Johansen and Scandinavian visitors formed a summer community. In Skagen, at the extreme point of Denmark, Peder Severin Krøyer, Anna and Michael Ancher, Peder Severin Krøyer, Anna and Michael Ancher, Laurits Tuxen, Viggo Johansen and Scandinavian visitors formed a summer community. Fishermen, beaches, artists' meals and "blue hour" became their motifs. Krøyer seizes them long evenings where sea and sky seem to merge; Anna Ancher observes interiors, women at work and bands of sun on the walls. In Sweden, Anders Zorn combines brush virtuosity, water, skin, social portraiture and rural life. Carl Larsson illuminates the family home with watercolor, while Bruno Liljefors follows animals and landscapes. In Norway, Christian Krohg confronts social naturalism and a free touch; in Finland, Albert Edelfelt and other artists translate snow, coastline and national identity. In Finland, Christian Krohg confronts social naturalism and a free touch; in Finland, Albert Edelfelt and other artists translate snow, coastline and national identity. Nordic light is therefore not only brilliant: it can be grazing, nocturnal, reflected by water or concentrated in an interior. It unites observation modern, daily life and feeling of place. The "Nordic Impressionism" selection notably compares Peeling Potatoes and Red Stockings. His reading favors atmosphere.

In the North, impressionism changes time: the light does not burn the motif, it lies on the beach, crosses the window and persists into the summer night.