''Hip, Hip, Hurrah!'' (Danish: ''Hip, hip, hurra! Kunstnerfest på Skagen'') is an oil-on-canvas painting from 1888 by Danish painter Peder Severin Krøyer.

Description

The work shows various members of the

Skagen Painters The Skagen Painters ( da, Skagensmalerne) were a group of Scandinavian artists who gathered in the village of Skagen, the northernmost part of Denmark, from the late 1870s until the turn of the century. Skagen was a summer destination whose scen ...

: a group of Danish, Norwegian and Swedish artists who formed a loose community in Skagen at the northern tip of

Jutland Jutland ( da, Jylland ; german: Jütland ; ang, Ēota land ), known anciently as the Cimbric or Cimbrian Peninsula ( la, Cimbricus Chersonesus; da, den Kimbriske Halvø, links=no or ; german: Kimbrische Halbinsel, links=no), is a peninsula of ...

in the 1880s and early 1890s. ''Hip, Hip, Hurrah!'' is typical of the work produced by the Skagen Painters; very much in the style of the French

Impressionist Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement characterized by relatively small, thin, yet visible brush strokes, open composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating the effects of the passag ...

s and Naturalists, it celebrates the play of light in the scene (and in composition and subject draws obvious comparisons to Renoir's '' Luncheon of the Boating Party''), but at the same time it harks back to the ''freundschaftbild'' tradition of artists of the

Danish Golden Age The Danish Golden Age ( da, Den danske guldalder) covers a period of exceptional creative production in Denmark, especially during the first half of the 19th century.Kulturnet DanmarkGuide to the Danish Golden Age Although Copenhagen had suffere ...

such as

Ditlev Blunck Ditlev Conrad Blunck (22 June 1798 – 7 January 1853) was a Danish-German painter associated with the Danish Golden Age during the first half of the 19th century. Biography Blunck was born in 1798 in Münsterdorf in Holstein, at that time ...

and

Wilhelm Bendz Wilhelm Ferdinand Bendz (20 March 1804 – 14 November 1832) was a Danish painter mainly known for genre works and portraits which often portray his artist colleagues and their daily lives. He was one of the most talented artists in the successful ...

in depicting artistic communities spontaneously drawing together. The development of Krøyer's Skagen style can be seen by comparing ''Hip, Hip, Hurrah!'' with ''Ved frokosten'' (''Artists' Luncheon at Skagen''), a similarly themed 1883 painting which features many of the same people; and with later works like '' Sommeraften ved Skagens strand. Kunstneren og hans hustru'' (''Summer Evening at Skagen beach. The Artist and his Wife'') and '' Roser'' (''Roses''). From left to right the people pictured are: Martha Møller Johansen and her husband, the painter

Viggo Johansen 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. Early life an ...

, Norwegian painter

Christian Krohg Christian Krohg (13 August 1852 – 16 October 1925) was a Norwegian naturalist painter, illustrator, author and journalist. Krohg was inspired by the realism art movement and often chose motifs from everyday life. He was the director and s ...

, Krøyer, Degn Brøndum (Anna Ancher's brother),

Michael Ancher Michael Peter Ancher (9 June 1849 – 19 September 1927) was a Danish realist artist, and widely known for his paintings of fishermen, the lakes, and other scenes from the Danish fishing community in Skagen. Early life and education Michael ...

, Swedish painter Oscar Björck, Danish painter

Thorvald Niss Thorvald Simeon Niss (7 May 1842 – 11 May 1905) was a Danish landscape painter who became interested in marine art after becoming a member of the Skagen Painters. Biography Born in Assens, Denmark, Assens, he was the son of Niels Frederik Niss ...

, teacher Helene Christensen (who was romantically involved with Krøyer), Danish painter

Anna Ancher Anna Ancher (18 August 1859 – 15 April 1935) was a Danish artist associated with the Skagen Painters, an artist colony on the northern point of Jylland, Denmark. She is considered to be one of Denmark's greatest visual artists. Background Ann ...

and her daughter

Helga Ancher Helga Cathrine Ancher (1883–1964) was a Danish painter. As the daughter of Anna and Michael Ancher, she was closely associated with the Skagen Painters. Most of her paintings were of her family and friends in Skagen and of local landscapes. E ...

History

The painting was started in 1884 after a party at

's house; the composition was inspired by photographs taken at the celebration by the German artist Fritz Stoltenberg, although the individuals featured are not all the same.Berman p. 161. Krøyer returned uninvited to Ancher's house the morning after the gathering with his easel and paints, eager to start sketching and expecting the freedom to come and go as he pleased. His lack of consideration annoyed Ancher, who had only recently moved to the house in an attempt to escape the hustle and bustle of town life; as a result, the two artists suffered their first serious falling-out. Although they reconciled soon afterwards, Krøyer did not get the unlimited access to Ancher's garden that he had expected and, frustrated, he struggled to progress with the work. He made do with the garden at Ancher's old apartment and worked from photographs and from life when he got the chance. It was four years before he could complete the picture. Helga, Ancher's daughter, who had been less than a year old at the time of the original festivities, is shown to be older in the final painting, suggesting she was not included until later in the composition.Svanholm pp. 85–9. A photo of the painting in Krøyer's studio shows an earlier composition before the older Helga was added. Swedish art collector

Pontus Fürstenberg Pontus Fürstenberg (4 October 1827 – 10 April 1902) was a Swedish art collector and merchant from a Jewish family. He was married to Göthilda Magnus. Background Pontus Fürstenberg was born at Östra Hamngatan 26, in Gothenburg, Sweden ...

bought the painting unseen (or at least before it was completed). It was displayed at Charlottenborg in 1888, and Fürstenberg later donated it to the

Gothenburg Museum of Art Gothenburg Museum of Art ( sv, Göteborgs konstmuseum) is located at Götaplatsen in Gothenburg, Sweden. It claims to be the third largest art museum in Sweden by size of its collection. Collections The museum holds the world's finest collect ...

, where it has hung ever since. The Skagens Museum has a small sketch from 1888.

Cultural influence

In August 2012, visitors and VisitDenmark staff recreated the painting at full scale out of

Lego Lego ( , ; stylized as LEGO) is a line of plastic construction toys that are manufactured by The Lego Group, a privately held company based in Billund, Denmark. The company's flagship product, Lego, consists of variously colored interlocki ...

blocks at the IMAGINATION festival at

St Katharine Docks St Katharine Docks is a former dock and now a mixed-used district in Central London, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets and within the East End. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, immediately downstream of the Tower of London an ...

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

, held in conjunction with the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, th ...

. A stylized reproduction of the work hangs in the foyer of Consensus Systems (

ConsenSys ConsenSys is a blockchain software technology company founded by Joseph Lubin and based in New York City. History Joseph Lubin founded ConsenSys in early 2015 as a software foundry to develop decentralized software services and applications ...

), at their world headquarters in Brooklyn, New York. ''Hip, Hip, Hurrah!'' appears on a range of champagnes named after the northernmost Danish town where Krøyer and his artist friends gathered. The 'Skagen' limited-release range is produced by Champagne Yvonne Seier Christensen, located in

Le Mesnil-sur-Oger Le Mesnil-sur-Oger (, literally ''Le Mesnil on Oger'') is a commune in the Marne department in the Grand Est region in north-eastern France. Champagne The village's vineyards are located in the Côte des Blancs subregion of Champagne, and are ...

on the Côte des Blancs, Champagne, France. The painting shows Krøyer and his Scandinavian artist friends celebrating with a champagne toast.

gave permission for ''Hip, Hip, Hurrah!'' to appear on Skagen Champagne labels in 2021.

European project

The painting has been the subject of a project funded by the European Regional Development Fund which led to a three-dimensional digital version of the painting being available for visitors to

Skagens Museum Skagens Museum is an art museum in Skagen, Denmark, that exhibits an extensive collection of works by members of the colony of Skagen Painters who lived and worked in the area in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Important artists include ...

next to the site where it was originally painted.

Citations

References

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