Per Krohg
Per Krohg, also known as Per Lasson Krohg (1889 to 1965), was a Norwegian painter and draughtsman, born in Åsgårdstrand. He was the son of the artists Oda and Christian Krohg. His work includes easel painting, illustration and extensive public decorative commissions.
His upbringing and training in Paris, with his father at the Académie Colarossi and later with Henri Matisse, shaped him. Colour contrasts, decorative lines and Cubist form met an interest in theatrical space, movement and humour.
Lucy Vidil, the artist's first wife from 1911 in the National Museum is oil on canvas, 72.2 × 53.7 cm. This is a specific early portrait with documented materials, not a standard for all his portraits or works on paper.
Two Worlds in the same museum is dated 1933, is painted in oil on canvas and measures 201 × 144.5 cm. It belongs to a period when monumental compositions and social contrasts gained greater significance in his work.
The frescoes in the former Sjømannsskolen at Ekeberg, now Kongshavn Upper Secondary School, were unveiled on 22 September 1924. The signs of the zodiac are on the ceiling and scenes of seafaring on the walls. The commission shows how motifs could be arranged around the room's architecture. The fresco technique required work on damp plaster and cooperation with craftspeople.
The ceiling painting at Kunstnernes Hus from 1932 describes the artist's development through three sections: Anatomy, Truth, Falsehood and Illusion and The Tunnel of Reflection. The long sequence links the figures to the viewer's movement through the stairwell. An isolated detail therefore shows only part of the work's context.
The mural in the UN Security Council Chamber forms part of Norway's gift from 1952. The phoenix and the family express the hope for peace. During the chamber's restoration, a digital copy was used in a temporary chamber.
A distinction must therefore be made between an original work, a reproduction and installation history. A photograph of the subject alone does not establish which version or location it shows. A mural is not automatically a fresco.
His illustrations require equally precise descriptions. Jérôme and Mademoiselle Krag skiing on a beautiful winter evening is dated before 1929 and catalogued as watercolour over lithography on paper with typeset text, 280 × 380 mm. A printed base and an addition by hand can thus occur in the same specific work.
A fairy tale illustration for Asbjørnsen and Moe's Collected Fairy Tales from 1936 is catalogued as pen, wash and opaque white over pencil on paper. The drawing itself is dated before 1936. The book's publication year and the dating of the drawing are separate pieces of information.
Krohg also taught in Norway, including as a professor at the Norwegian National Academy of Fine Arts from 1946 to 1958. His teaching role is connected with sustained work on composition and monumental decoration, but does not make every pupil's work or decoration produced around him a work of his own.
For a work on paper, first establish whether it is a drawing, a print, a book page or a later reproduction. Numbering, any proof designations, a handwritten or printed signature and the publisher must be examined in each case. No common edition size applying to the artist's entire printmaking output has been documented.
Keep photographs of the reverse, labels and older framing, and distinguish documented ownership history from assumptions. Fading, damp and adhesive residues matter for works on paper; for paintings, the surface, canvas tension and repairs are among the points to assess. The name Krohg, a familiar composition or a similar signature does not authenticate a specific item.
Read more about lithography, artist signatures, provenance and ownership history, Christian Krohg.
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Sources and further reading
- Store norske leksikon: Per Krohg
- Norsk biografisk leksikon: Per Krohg
- Norsk kunstnerleksikon: Per Lasson Krohg
- National Museum: Lucy Vidil
- National Museum: Two Worlds
- Kongshavn Upper Secondary School: the Sjømannsskolen frescoes
- Kunstnernes Hus: the ceiling painting
- Norway’s UN mission: the Security Council Chamber
- National Museum: Jérôme and Mademoiselle Krag
- National Museum: fairy tale illustration
