Holger Drachmann (1846-1908) 
Holger Drachmann is famous mainly for his poems, but actually he had trained as a marine painter, and he unfolded his painting talent primarily in Skagen. Drachmann first came to Skagen in 1872 with the Norwegian painter Frits Thaulow, and until his death in 1908, Skagen was one of his favourite places of sojourn. He was born and raised in Copenhagen and in 1865, he was accepted as a student at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts where he studied to become a marine painter. In parallel with his painting, he wrote poems, and in 1872 he had his breakthrough as a writer, after which his painting work played a less important role in his life. From 1865 to 1874, Drachmann regularly visited the island of Bornholm where he met his first wife, Vilhelmine. In 1879, he married his second wife, Emmy, with whom he had four children. In 1903, Drachmann settled in Skagen together with his third wife Soffi. Together they decorated their new home, Villa Pax, which is located in Skagen's West Town. During his final years, Drachmann took up painting again with renewed enthusiasm. As before, he was fascinated by ships, the beach and the sea, but now the style of his paintings had become more liberated and expressive. Drachmann died on 14 January 1908 in Hornbæk, and his urn was transported from Copenhagen to Skagen where it was carried to his burial place near Grenen in a grand procession. In 1911, Villa Pax was opened as a museum.
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