Kroyer's "Hip Hip Hoorah!" – Poster

“Hip Hip Hoorah!" Artists’ Party, Skagen, 1888, by Peder Kroyer; Oil on Canvas; Goteborgs Konstmuseum, Sweden. Peder Severin Krøyer, 1851 -1909), known as P.S. Krøyer, was a Norwegian-Danish painter. He is one of the best known and beloved, and undeniably the most colorful of the Skagen Painters, a community of Danish and Nordic artists who lived, gathered or worked in Skagen, Denmark, especially during the final decades of the 1800s. Krøyer was the unofficial leader of the group. Between 1877-1881, Krøyer traveled extensively in Europe, meeting artists, studying art, and developing his skills and outlook. He stayed in Paris and studied under Léon Bonnat, and undoubtedly came under the influence of contemporary impressionists – Claude Monet, Alfred Sisley, Edgar Degas, Piere-Auguste Renoir and Edouard Manet. He continued to travel throughout his life, constantly drawing inspiration from foreign artists and cultures. His eyesight failed him gradually over the last ten years of his life until he was totally blind. Ever the optimist, Krøyer painted almost to the end, in spite of health obstacles. In fact, he painted some of his last masterpieces while half-blind, joking that the eyesight in his one working eye had become better with the loss of the other eye.