The midsummer-night festival, celebrated in Denmark and the rest of Scandinavia on the longest day of the year at the end of June, is a custom deeply rooted in the culture, to which Ib Eisner dedicated an entire series of works.

He was primarily interested in the so-called “Sankt Hans Fires”, which are lit all over the country to banish witches and evil demons.

To frame these portrayals, the artist focused mainly on beach scenes, with large numbers of people gathering around the flaming piles of wood, picking the moment where the elements of fire and water meet as the central theme.

The paintings display brilliant colours in warm and cold tones, and are characterised mainly by loosely set brushwork, used for capturing the flickering of flames and the rising of smoke. The flames of the fire are reflected in paddles of water on the beach, and stand out there as countless spots in glimmering colours. The beach seems to be vibrating in the play of bright and dark spots.

Through the ascending dunes, the portrayals have a slightly diagonal setting, a form of composition which assists to intensify the dynamic motion of the event.

Motley groups of people are gathered around the fires. Some of them wear white caps with red and blue ribbons, and are thus characterised as Danish high school seniors in their school uniform.