Portrait of Lucy Parr Egeberg, 1876

Christian Krohg, who would become one of the most important Norwegian Naturalist painters and a central figure in the Kristiania Bohème, painted this early portrait of Lucy Parr Egeberg in 1876 while still developing his mature style. Krohg would later become famous for his socially engaged painting, including his controversial 'Albertine' depicting the exploitation of working-class women. This early portrait of a bourgeois woman shows him working in a conventional portrait mode, though already demonstrating the directness and psychological engagement that would characterize his mature work. The National Museum in Oslo holds this as part of a comprehensive Krohg collection.

Krohg renders Mrs Egeberg with direct observational confidence and a slightly more expressive handling than would be expected from an academic portrait painter — the brushwork has a freshness and energy that points toward his later naturalist style.