Christian Krohg (1852-1925) - The People of the North

With the exhibition ‘The People of the North’ devoted to the artist Christian Krogh**, the musée d'Orsay concludes a trilogy devoted to Norwegian art at the turn of the 20th century.

**The first retrospective of the painter's work outside Scandinavia, it highlights the naturalistic and committed work of an artist who is somewhat unknown in France.

A committed and modern artist

Christian Krohg, a major figure of naturalism, but also an illustrator, writer and journalist, did not hesitate to use his art to defend the political and social causes of his time. Today he is recognised for his deeply empathetic works depicting the condition of the Scandinavian people, the world of work, poverty and injustice. Among the works on show are the series of sailors, genre scenes and portraits that illustrate his interest in the most vulnerable members of society. But also his most controversial painting, Albertine, inspired by his novel, the story of a worker who is raped and becomes a prostitute, which highlights the difficult living conditions of women and prompted a lively debate in Norway.

A Norwegian painter in Paris

Christian Krogh was an inquisitive traveller, training in painting techniques in Germany for 5 years and also in France, in Paris, where he discovered the work of Courbet, Manet and the Impressionist painters. Influenced by his many stays in Paris, he developed a technique marked by innovative, dynamic framing and bold compositions that bear witness to his artistic modernity. His credo, ‘it's all a question of framing’, reflects his constant quest for immediacy and realism in his work. He finally ended his career in his own country, in Oslo, as director of the Academy of Fine Arts until his death in 1925.

Discover other exhibitions in Paris Region in 2025.