Expensive Sketches of Masterpieces

A sketch of “Saint John's Eve Bonfire on Skagen's Beach” (Dan. “Sankthansbål på Skagen strand”) painted by Danish pictorial art classic Peder Severin Kroeyer was stolen from an apartment in Oesterbro, one of Copenhagen’s districts, in December last year. The original picture is kept at Skagens Museum.

Former director of Skagens Museum Annette Johansen says that “Saint John's Eve Bonfire on Skagen's Beach” is one of the greatest works of the Danish art. The original is a canvas of1.5 meters in height and more than 2 meters in length, which is permanently exposed at Skagens Museum. But since the sketch tells us about the picture’s background it is also very valuable, Annette Johansen believes.
 
Kroeyer finished “Saint John's Eve Bonfire on Skagen's Beach” in 1906. While painting it, he made several smaller sketches.

“Saint John's Eve Bonfire on Skagen's Beach” is one of Kroeyer’s last significant works. In the picture, around the bonfire are painted Kroeyer’s wife Marie and her beloved Hugo Alfvén as well as man and wife Michael and Anna Ancher who also represented the Skagen school, and writer Holger Drachmann.

Though Skagens Museum houses the picture, it is owned by a private fund.

Danish police estimate the stolen sketch at DKK 6.5 mln. During investigation the canvas was found safe and sound. The person who had it is arrested on suspicion of theft.
 
By materials of DR.dk