Marie Krøyer

Marie Triepcke Krøyer Alfvén (11 June 1867 – 25 May 1940), commonly known as Marie Krøyer, was a Danish painter. She is remembered principally as the wife of P. S. Krøyer, one of the most successful members of the artists' colony known as the Skagen Painters, which flourished at the end of the 19th century in the far north of Jutland. From an early age, Marie aspired to become an artist, and after training privately in Copenhagen she went to Paris to continue her studies. It was there, in early 1889, that she met Krøyer, who immediately fell madly in love with her. Although he was sixteen years her senior, the couple married that summer and in 1891 settled in Skagen. Clearly inspired by Marie's beauty, Krøyer had ample opportunity to paint her portraits both indoors and outdoors, especially on the beach. Married life became more difficult as Krøyer experienced periods of mental illness from 1900, and Marie eventually began an affair with the Swedish composer Hugo Alfvén who had also been taken by her beauty. The couple had a child, Marie divorced Krøyer and moved to Sweden with Alfvén. They married in 1912, but marital problems once again resulted in divorce. Marie was reluctant to paint after meeting Krøyer, whom she looked up to as a far more competent artist, and she is remembered more as the subject of some of his best-known paintings than for her own work, although several of her pictures have recently attracted renewed interest. She is now also recognized for her significant contributions to design and architecture.

The Passion of Marie

The Passion of Marie is a 2012 Danish film directed by Bille August, starring Birgitte Hjort Sørensen and Søren Sætter-Lassen. Its original Danish title is Balladen om Marie, which means "The ballad of Marie". It tells the story of the stormy relationship between Marie and Peder Severin Krøyer, two of the Skagen Painters, in the late 19th century.

Cast

Production

Based on the 1999 novel by Anastassia Arnold, The Passion of Marie was Bille August's first Danish film production since Pelle the Conqueror from 1987. It was produced through SF Film Production—the Danish subsidiary of AB Svensk Filmindustri—with support from the Danish Film Institute. It received 1.75 million Norwegian kronor from Nordisk Film & TV-Fond. Principal photography began in August 2011, on location in Skagen and Marstrand.