Skagen Kunstmuseer

Skagens Kunstmuseer | Art Museums of Skagen is one museum with three locations in Skagen, – and home to the collection of masterpieces by members of one of the most famous artists’ colonies in Europe, The Skagen Painters.

At the end of the 19th century, Skagen became the center of The Skagen Painters. In the beginning it was generally the very young, less established artists who journeyed to the tip of Jutland peninsula in Denmark. The first artists who came to the town at the beginning of the 1870s had met at the Royal Academy of Art in Copenhagen and recommended the town to one another. In Skagen, there was an abundance of plein air motifs, the town had a local population who were usually willing to model for a modest fee, and social and professional fellowship was also a major factor for many artists. The colony became a part of an international phenomenon. Artists came to Skagen from other countries and there were artists’ colonies in several other places in Europe, Russia, North America, and Australia at the time.
The artists’ colony in Skagen was not only visited by painters but also by authors, composers, musicians, singers, craftspeople, and actors, several of whom were among the most prominent cultural personalities of the era in Denmark and Scandinavia.

The art museum Skagens Museum was founded in 1908 by the artists Michael Ancher, Peder Severin Krøyer, and Laurits Tuxen, all members of The Skagen Painters, as well as hotel proprietor Degn Brøndum and pharmacist Victor Chr. Klæbel.
The present museum building was completed in 1928, and has been enlarged several times, most recently in 2014-2016 when a new wing was added. Skagens Museum is home to the art collections, while the new Skifer wing contains temporary exhibitions.

At the end of 2014, Skagens Museum and the two house and studio museums Anchers Hus (original home of Michael and Anna Ancher) and Drachmanns Hus (original home of Holger Drachmann and his wife Soffi), merged and adopted the name Skagens Kunstmuseer | Art Museums of Skagen.
The museum has a collection of more than 9,000 artworks by members of the The Skagen Painters.

Today the museum stands firm on the original idea for the founding of the museum. There are close links to the surrounding local community as well as a strong international network. People come to the museum to experience the art and atmosphere of both the professional and social context of the colony. This environment of interaction and dialogue between the art and audience, between local and international is important in the daily work and communication.

Photos: Art Museums of Skagen