While she was with Krøyer, Marie painted little; she considered her talent inferior and felt frustrated that she could not commit herself fully to art because she had accepted that her role was to be a housewife and mother, saying: "I sometimes think that the whole effort is in vain, we have far too much to overcome ... what significance does it really have if I paint, I shall never, never achieve anything really great ... I want to believe in our cause, even if at times it may be terribly difficult."
By contrast, her friend Anna Ancher enjoyed a more positive relationship with her own husband; she was not concerned by domestic duties, and their artistic styles and motifs were so different that direct comparison was never a problem.

Only a small number of Marie's paintings survive, most on small canvases; Lisa Svanholm believes the absence of large works is further evidence of Marie's lack of confidence in her talent.
Of particular interest are her Impressionistic Self-Portrait (1889), in which she conveys a rather sombre view of herself, emphasized by the thick brushstrokes and the shadow cast over most of her face, and her last known painting, the Marketplace in a French Town (Markedsplads i en fransk by) of 1898, a small Impressionist piece which shows her talent to the full.

Although Marie Krøyer was recognized for her personal beauty during her lifetime, it was not until the death of her daughter Vibeke in 1986 that her talents as an artist were revealed.
The paintings left by Vibeke, now in Skagens Museum, showed her mother was a fine painter who had possessed the unrealized potential to become one of Skagen's leading artists This was further evidenced in 2002, in connection with the publication of Tonni Arnold's book Kunsten i Marie Krøyers liv (Art in Marie Krøyer's Life), when an exhibition of some of her hitherto unknown works, 40 paintings and 20 sketches, was held in Copenhagen's Kunstforeningen after the author had tracked them down in Sweden.
Arnold commented: "It is quite clear she tried to succeed as a painter but circumstances were against her.
After Krøyer was hit by mental illness, she gave up... But now we know that for lengthy periods she seriously strove to be a painter, that she travelled on her own, and that something came out of it all."

Several works by Marie Krøyer are in the collection at Skagens Museum.
While she was with Krøyer, Marie painted little; she considered her talent inferior and felt frustrated that she could not commit herself fully to art because she had accepted that her role was to be a housewife and mother, saying: "I sometimes think that the whole effort is in vain, we have far too much to overcome ... what significance does it really have if I paint, I shall never, never achieve anything really great ... I want to believe in our cause, even if at times it may be terribly difficult." By contrast, her friend Anna Ancher enjoyed a more positive relationship with her own husband; she was not concerned by domestic duties, and their artistic styles and motifs were so different that direct comparison was never a problem.
Only a small number of Marie's paintings survive, most on small canvases; Lisa Svanholm believes the absence of large works is further evidence of Marie's lack of confidence in her talent. Of particular interest are her Impressionistic Self-Portrait (1889), in which she conveys a rather sombre view of herself, emphasized by the thick brushstrokes and the shadow cast over most of her face, and her last known painting, the Marketplace in a French Town (Markedsplads i en fransk by) of 1898, a small Impressionist piece which shows her talent to the full.
Although Marie Krøyer was recognized for her personal beauty during her lifetime, it was not until the death of her daughter Vibeke in 1986 that her talents as an artist were revealed. The paintings left by Vibeke, now in Skagens Museum, showed her mother was a fine painter who had possessed the unrealized potential to become one of Skagen's leading artists This was further evidenced in 2002, in connection with the publication of Tonni Arnold's book Kunsten i Marie Krøyers liv (Art in Marie Krøyer's Life), when an exhibition of some of her hitherto unknown works, 40 paintings and 20 sketches, was held in Copenhagen's Kunstforeningen after the author had tracked them down in Sweden. Arnold commented: "It is quite clear she tried to succeed as a painter but circumstances were against her. After Krøyer was hit by mental illness, she gave up... But now we know that for lengthy periods she seriously strove to be a painter, that she travelled on her own, and that something came out of it all."
Several works by Marie Krøyer are in the collection at Skagens Museum.
Marie Krøyer