Peder Severin (SØREN) KRØYER (1851-1909) Portrait of Jeanne Pastel on paper titled upper right, monogrammed SK, located Luchon and dated Juni 86 lower left. Very light spotting and marginal traces of fixing points. Large original wood and gilded stucco frame with several handwritten inscriptions on the reverse and two old labels, one of which reads "Hofforgylder W.J. MORGENS/11 Niels Juelsgade/ kjøbenhavn" Size at sight : 40,5 X 31,5 cm Comparative elements in public collections: - Copenhagen, Hirschsprungske Samling, Portrait of Marie, Jean and Léonie Pastel, Luchon, 1886, Inv. 870-872. Comparative bibliography on the subject: MASSET Jean Pierre : Danish Painters in the Pyrenees, in Arts in the Pyrenees. Danish painters. Pyrenees Bulletin Pyrénéen, no. 214, Quarterly no. 2, 2003, pp. 127-134, p. 133 (repr.). A figure of Danish Impressionism and a member of the Skagen group, Peder Severin Kroyer has sometimes been called the Sorolla of the North or the lover of light. His life is a tragedy: born in a psychiatric hospital to a mother judged incapable and an unknown father, he was entrusted to his aunt. In 1886, he spent six weeks in a cure in Luchon in the Pyrenees. Unfortunately for him, a series of treatments based on mercury vapors will only degrade his already fragile health. It was during his cure in France that he painted several portraits of children, including our little Jeanne. It is interesting to note that our painting bears on the back of the frame the labels of the color dealer and framer Morgens in Copenhagen. These same labels also appear on the frame of the pastels kept at the Hirschsprungske Samling in Copenhagen, the portraits of Marie, Jean and Léonie (inv. 870-872) also made in Luchon in 1886. Also on the reverse of the painting is an inscription in blue chalk indicating the address Amaliegade 3, Copenhagen. There is a similar inscription on the reverse of the Hirschsprungske Samling painting, with the address Bredgade 43, corresponding to the address of Pauline Hirschsprung. It appears that at the address Amaliegade 3, was located the Fritsche Co. This company belonged to Harald Fritsche (1833-1905), whose wife, Marie Amalie, Née Damborg was a framer's daughter. In addition, there is a portrait of Harald Fritsche resting in a garden in Skagen by Peder Severin Kroyer in 1900, which was presented at auction (Copenhagen, Bruun Rasmussen, 26 February 2018, No. 37). It is therefore likely that Harald and Marie Amalie Fritsche were the first owners of this work. Finally, in 1886 at the Charlottenborg Salon, five pastels by Kroyer were exhibited, referenced as "Child Portrait, Pastel". Among these five portraits were the three from the Hirschsprungske Samling, the other two unidentified portraits presented under numbers 660 and 661. The expert warmly thanks Mr Rasmus Kjaerboe, curator of the Hirschsprungske Samling in Copenhagen for his valuable contribution to the research of this work. Cabinet Artemis Estimations, M. Pierre Grignon Dumoulin, expert of justice near the Court of Appeal of Amiens, 06.09.83.33.29, www.artemisestimations.com.