Skagens Museum is an art museum in Skagen, Denmark, which exhibits an extensive collection of works by members of the colony of Skagen Painters who lived and worked in the area in the late 19th and early 20th centuries Important artists include Maria and P S Krøyer, Anna and Michael Ancher, Laurits Tuxen, Viggo Johansen and Holger Drachmann The museum also hosts special exhibitions Its facilities include a café located in the Garden House, an old building which for a while served as home residence and studio of Anna and Michael Ancher

Today Skagens Museum has more than 1,800 works of art at its disposal All important members of the artist colony are represented in the collections with central works, including Maria and P S Krøyer, Anna and Michael Ancher, Laurits Tuxen, Viggo Johansen and Holger Drachmann

The museum also hosts special exhibitions

Skagens Museum was founded on 20 October 1908 in the dining room at Brøndums Hotel Among the founders were artists Michael Ancher, PS Krøyer and Laurits Tuxen, who were elected to form the first board of governors together with Victor Christian Klæbel, the local pharmacist, and Degn Brøndum, proprietor of Brøndums Hotel and Anna Ancher’s brother The idea was to collect works by the Skagen Painters and to raise funds for the construction of a building for their exhibition It was also decided that the Brøndums Hotel’s dining room should, in due time, be transferred to the new museum once it had been built It had served as an important venue for the members of the artist colony ever since its formation in the 1870s

The first exhibitions were arranged in the local technical school After PS Krøyer’s death in 1909, his house in Skagen Plantation was used as a temporary venue for the museum

Ulrik Plesner in front of Skagens Museum in 1928-29

In 1919, Degn Brøndum donated the old garden of his hotel for the construction of a purpose-built museum The architect Ulrik Plesner was charged with its design He was an active member of the artistic community in Skagen and had already designed a number of buildings in the area The building was financed by a combination of private donors and foundations with Degn Brøndum, Laurits Tuxen and the Ny Carlsberg Foundation as the largest contributors Construction started in 1926 and the new museum was officially opened on 22 September 1928

In 1982, the exhibition rooms were extended with an annex designed by the Royal Surveyor, architect Jacob Blegvad Blegvad also planned the later extension to the museum that was inaugurated in 1989

In 1997, the museum administration moved into the Technical School

Today Skagens Museum has more than 1,800 works of art at its disposal All important members of the artist colony are represented in the collections with central works, including Maria and P S Krøyer, Anna and Michael Ancher, Laurits Tuxen, Viggo Johansen and Holger Drachmann

The museum also hosts special exhibitions

The dining room of Brøndums Hotel as it appears today was designed by Ulrik Plesner and Thorvald Bindesbøll in connection with the first major expansion of the hotel in 1892.

The museum garden features some of the museum’s sculptures. The Garden House is one of the oldest buildings in Skagen and received its name when it was incorporated into what was then the hotel garden. In 1853 it was used as a cholera lazaretto.

Many of the museum’s paintings have been digitized under the Google Art Project As of August 2013, 105 are accessible on line The museum’s director, Lisette Vind Ebbesen, believes it is important for the museum’s paintings to be available online as it allows people from around the world to access the works even if they are unable to visit the museum itself She is nevertheless convinced that visitors to the museum continue to appreciate the originals which provide a special kind of experience In addition, they can access additional information about the works on iPod guides as they move through the museum, frequently spending longer as they study individual works

Another technological development has involved the painting Hip, Hip, Hurra! which is not part of the museum’s physical collection as it hangs in the Gothenburg Museum of Art Thanks to funding from the European Regional Development Fund, it was possible to develop a three-dimensional digital version of the painting in the museum next to the site where it was originally painted