Northern light, intimacy and modernity · From Skagen to abstraction

Scandinavian painting combines Nordic light, domestic life, wilderness and inner exploration, from Krøyer and Anna Ancher to Munch and Hilma af Klint.

Scandinavian schools developed a particular attention to light, the seasons and daily life in the 19th century. In Skagen, Peder Severin Krøyer paints Hip, hip, hurray! as a celebration of artists gathered in the brilliance of a summer garden. Anna Ancher observes interiors and simple gestures; Girl in the kitchen brings light into a domestic space without spectacular anecdote. Bruno Liljefors places animals in their environment with a precision that avoids sentimentality. Edvard Munch transforms The Scream into a universal image of modern anxiety. Hilma af Klint finally opens an abstract and spiritual path, where shapes, colors and cycles of life precede many recognized experiences of abstraction. The selection "Scandinavian paintings - Top 500 masterpieces" notably compares Le Cri - Edvard Munch and Hip, hip, hurray! - Peder Severin Krøyer. His reading favors drawing.

Scandinavian painting unites two lights: that of the Nordic world and that, more interior, of modern consciousness.