(b Aker, nr Christiania [now Oslo], 13 Aug 1852; d Oslo, 16 Oct 1925). Painter, draughtsman and writer. While studying law at the University of Christiania (1869-73), he attended both Johan Fredrik Eckersberg's private art school (1869-70) and then the drawing class of Julius Middelthun at the Royal School of Drawing (1870-71). Having taken his degree in law, he went to the Kunstschule in Karlsruhe, where he studied under Hans Gude and then Karl Gussow (1843-1907). In 1875 he followed Gussow to the Akademie at Berlin. He remained there until 1878, becoming a close friend of Max Klinger, a fellow student, and also getting to know the Danish philosopher and writer Georg Brandes (1842-1927), who introduced him to contemporary French writers such as Emile Zola and did much to sharpen his awareness of social and political problems. The experience of Berlin, where Krohg lived in great poverty, complemented Brandes's arguments and gave a somewhat bitter and critical turn to Krohg's interest in the realistic recording of the city. Krohg also embarked on his career as a portraitist at this time. While his portrait of Lucy Eyeberg (1876; Oslo, N.G.) reveals an acute realist interest in costume, especially its varying textures, the portrait of Georg Brandes (1878-9; Skagen, Skagens Mus.) shows Krohg also capable of responding to a forceful and fascinating personality with a penetrating study of character.
Part of the Krohg family
See the Abbreviations for further details.
