Self-Portrait, Sitting by His Easel at Skagen Beach 1902

Peder Severin Krøyer, a Danish painter, painted this self-portrait of himself with oils, sitting by his easel at Skagen Beach. What do you think Krøyer was thinking when he made this work? Maybe something like: "It's never really like what you imagined," or maybe “How can I get this down?” I think he was trying to figure out how to paint the sea. You can see a similar palette in both canvases, the one he's working on and the one he's presenting to us. The mark-making is pretty loose, and there is something very modern about it. The surface is lightly dabbed with strokes of white and yellow paint. I wonder if he’s using a limited palette, sticking to these hues to capture the light reflecting off his face and clothing. I bet he learned from other painters and was inspired by them. Painting is a conversation across time; there is no such thing as originality, only different ways of responding.