Viggo Johansen was a Danish painter and active member of the group of Skagen Painters who met every summer in the north of Jutland. He was born in 1851 in Copenhagen and was one of Denmark's most prominent painters in the 1890s.

     As a boy, Johansen already had a talent for drawing which was recognized by the artist Wilhelm Marstrand. He studied at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts from 1868–1875, specializing in figure painting, but did not pass the graduation examination. Despite this, the artist received academic travel scholarships in 1880, 1884, 1885, 1909, and from 1919–1920.

     He first became associated with the Skagen Painters in 1875, encouraged by his fellow students Karl Madsen and Michael Ancher. In 1885, he exhibited in Paris where he was inspired by Claude Monet's use of color, and was also under the influence of the Norwegian artist Christian Krohg, another of the Skagen painters.

     After his return from Paris, his paintings took on lighter tones. He had noted the absence of black in the works of the French artists and considered his own earlier works too dark by comparison. After a falling out with P.S. Krøyer in 1891, Johansen's relationship with the Skagen artists Michael and Anna Ancher was strained and he and his family did not visit Skagen for several years.

     At the Exposition Universelle in Paris in 1886 Johansen was awarded the exhibition medal for the painting "Evening talk" (Aftensnak). In 1889, many of the Skagen artists received awards at Exposition Universelle in Paris. Johansen won a Gold Medal for the work "The children are washed" (Børnene vaskes). From 1888–1890, he taught at the Artists Academy's School for Women. He then became a professor there until 1920 and later became one of its directors.

     Johansen received various awards including the Thorvaldsen's Medal in 1886, honorable mention at the Paris Exhibition of 1887, a 2nd class medal in the Munich Exhibition of 1889, and a gold medal in Paris in 1889 and 1900. He held more than 40 solo exhibitions in his lifetime both at home and abroad including Paris, Copenhagen, Vienna, Chicago, Munich, Berlin, Glasgow, Lübeck, London, Budapest, Malmö, Brooklyn, Helsinki, Toronto, Oslo, and Aalborg.

     The artist is represented in these public institutions:

• Philadelphia Museum of Art

• Gothenburg Museum of Art

• Hungarian National Gallery

• AROS - Aarhus Kunstmuseum

• Bornholms Kunstmuseum

• BRANDTS - (Painting) Museum for kunst & visuel kultur

• Den Hirschsprungske Samling

• Fuglsang Art Museum

• KUNSTEN Museum of Modern Art Aalborg

• Copenhagen City Museum

• Læsø Museum

• Museum Sønderjylland (Art Museum Brundlund Slot)

• New Carlsberg Glyptotek

• Randers Art Museum

• Ribe Art Museum

• Skagens Museum

• Sorø Art Museum

• Statens Museum for Kunst (National Gallery of Denmark)

• Vejlemuseerne (Art)

• Østfyns Museum (Johannes Larsen)