Før sol går ned. Dragør. Koner, en lille pige og gæs ved stranden

This 1884 canvas depicts women, a small girl, and geese at the beach in Dragør as the sun approaches the horizon, capturing the golden quality of late afternoon light on a flat coastal landscape. The title specifies the moment — before sunset — making time of day the painting's central subject as much as the figures or location. Late afternoon and evening light were prized by Scandinavian painters for their warmth and atmospheric richness, which transformed the ordinarily grey North European coastal palette into something Mediterranean in warmth. Dragør's open beaches and low horizon provided an ideal stage for such atmospheric exercises. The presence of women and children alongside the geese grounds the scene in the rhythms of rural coastal life, where livestock, domestic activity, and the natural world coexisted in close proximity. Johansen was twenty-nine in 1884 and developing the landscape vocabulary that would complement his more famous interior subjects throughout his career.

The low sun position demanded attention to the specific quality of raking late-afternoon light, which elongates shadows, warms the colour of every surface, and creates strong horizontal banding across the landscape. Johansen uses a warm golden palette in the lit areas, contrasting with the cooler tones of shadow. The figures and geese are silhouetted or semi-silhouetted against the bright water and sky.