Artwork
Evening talk
Evening talk is an oil painting by the Post-Impressionist artist Viggo Johansen. It dates from 1894 and is held in the collection of the Statens Museum for Kunst.
About this work
Subject & Meaning
Held in the collection of the Statens Museum for Kunst, the painting stands as a document of the collaborative milieu that shaped Danish art of the period.
Viggo Johansen's "Evening Talk" is a genre scene depicting a gathering of four figures identified as fellow artists Peder Severin Krøyer, Karl Madsen, Thorvald Bindesbøll, and Julius Paulsen. The painting, executed in oil on canvas in 1894, represents an intimate moment of conversation among members of the Danish artistic circle to which Johansen belonged, capturing the informal sociability of late nineteenth-century Scandinavian art life. By portraying his contemporaries together in a single interior setting, Johansen offers a visual record of friendship and shared cultural identity among these painters and designers.
The work's iconographic significance lies in its function as a group portrait disguised as a genre scene: rather than presenting the sitters in formal poses, Johansen renders them engaged in evening talk, emphasizing their roles as colleagues. Held in the collection of the Statens Museum for Kunst, the painting stands as a document of the collaborative milieu that shaped Danish art of the period.
Technique & Style
Evening talk is an oil painting executed on canvas by Viggo Johansen in 1894. Classified as a genre scene, the work measures 105 cm in height and 142 cm in width. The composition depicts four men, Peder Severin Krøyer, Karl Madsen, Thorvald Bindesbøll, and Julius Paulsen, engaged in conversation, reflecting the artist's focus on intimate domestic and social interactions typical of the period.
The medium of oil paint allows for the subtle rendering of light and atmosphere characteristic of the Skagen Painters' style.
History & Provenance
Evening Talk was painted by Viggo Johansen in 1894. The work depicts an indoor scene with identifiable figures including Peder Severin Krøyer, Karl Madsen, Thorvald Bindesbøll, and Julius Paulsen, suggesting a documented social gathering rather than a commissioned portrait. No record of a specific commission or preparatory studies has been traced in the cited sources, and the painting is presented as an autonomous work within Johansen's oeuvre.
The painting is held in the collection of the Statens Museum for Kunst in Copenhagen. It is executed in oil on canvas and measures 105 cm in height by 142 cm in width. The available sources do not provide an accession number or exhibition history for the piece.
Context
Evening talk (1894) is an oil on canvas painting measuring 105 × 142 cm, created by Viggo Johansen and held in the collection of the Statens Museum for Kunst in Copenhagen. The work belongs to the genre scene and portrays the artists Peder Severin Krøyer, Karl Madsen, Thorvald Bindesbøll and Julius Paulsen, reflecting the social circles of the Danish art world in the late nineteenth century. Its inclusion in the museum's holdings illustrates its significance within the development of Danish genre painting and its role in documenting contemporary artistic camaraderie.
Overview
Viggo Johansen's 1894 oil painting, Evening Talk, captures an intimate genre scene featuring a gathering of his artistic contemporaries. As a prominent figure among the Danish Skagen Painters, Johansen created a work that reflects the social and intellectual life of artists in the late 19th century. The piece is currently housed in the collection of Statens Museum for Kunst.
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Artist & collection
Artist
Viggo Johansen (3 January 1851 – 18 December 1935) was a Danish painter and active member of the group of Skagen Painters who met every summer in the north of Jutland. He was one of Denmark's most prominent painters in the 1890s.
