My World: The Danish Skagen Painter Viggo Johansen

Viggo Johansen (1851–1935) was a distinctive figure among the Skagenpainters, renowned in his own time and still dazzlingly brilliant and relevant to modern-day eyes. Even so, he has not been canonised to the same degree as some of his contemporaries: Peder Severin Krøyer, Anna Ancher, Michael Ancher, and other luminaries of late nineteenth-century Danish art.

Johansen pushed the boundaries for what was considered appropriate subject matter in art, delving deep into intimate domestic life. He often portrayed the everyday chores of his wife, Martha Johansen, centred on their six children, or the couple’s dinner parties in lamp-lit rooms. When he raised his gaze from hearth and home, he often turned to the marginsand overlooked aspects of life, as seen in his empty landscapes of Skagen or Dragør. With his beautiful, intimate and densely atmospheric scenes, Viggo Johansen significantly contributed to the development of modern painting.