Helga Cathrine Ancher (1883–1964) was a Danish painter. As the daughter of

Anna Anna may refer to: People Surname and given name * Anna (name) Mononym * Anna the Prophetess, in the Gospel of Luke * Anna (wife of Artabasdos) (fl. 715–773) * Anna (daughter of Boris I) (9th–10th century) * Anna (Anisia) (fl. 1218 to 12 ...

and

Michael Ancher Michael Peter Ancher (9 June 1849 – 19 September 1927) was a Danish realist artist, and widely known for his paintings of fishermen, the lakes, and other scenes from the Danish fishing community in Skagen. Early life and education Michael ...

, she was closely associated with the

Skagen Painters The Skagen Painters ( da, Skagensmalerne) were a group of Scandinavian artists who gathered in the village of Skagen, the northernmost part of Denmark, from the late 1870s until the turn of the century. Skagen was a summer destination whose scen ...

. Most of her paintings were of her family and friends in

Skagen Skagen () is Denmark's northernmost town, on the east coast of the Skagen Odde peninsula in the far north of Jutland, part of Frederikshavn Municipality in Nordjylland, north of Frederikshavn and northeast of Aalborg. The Port of Skagen is ...

and of local landscapes.

Early life and education

Born in

on 19 August 1883, Helga Ancher was the daughter of Anna and Michael Ancher, both of whom are among the most prominent members of the artist colony in the far north of

Jutland Jutland ( da, Jylland ; german: Jütland ; ang, Ēota land ), known anciently as the Cimbric or Cimbrian Peninsula ( la, Cimbricus Chersonesus; da, den Kimbriske Halvø, links=no or ; german: Kimbrische Halbinsel, links=no), is a peninsula of ...

known as the Skagen Painters. After being introduced to art by her parents, she attended Charlotte Sode and Julie Meldahl's art school in

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

. In 1901, she entered the

Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts The Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts ( da, Det Kongelige Danske Kunstakademi - Billedkunst Skolerne) has provided education in the arts for more than 250 years, playing its part in the development of the art of Denmark. History The Royal Dani ...

where she studied under

Valdemar Irminger Valdemar Heinrich Nicolaus Irminger (29 December 1850 – 10 February 1938) was a Danish painter. Biography Born in Copenhagen, Irminger attended the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts from 1867 and 1873. He went to Italy on a scholarship from 18 ...

and

Viggo Johansen Viggo Johansen (3 January 1851 – 18 December 1935) was a Danish painter and active member of the group of Skagen Painters who met every summer in the north of Jutland. He was one of Denmark's most prominent painters in the 1890s. Early life an ...

until 1904. She completed her studies in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

(1909–10) at the school run by

Lucien Simon Lucien Joseph Simon (1861 – 1945) was a French painter and teacher born in Paris. Early life and education Simon was born in Paris. After graduating from the Lycée Louis-le-Grand, he studied painting at the studio of Jules Didier, then from ...

and

Émile-René Ménard Émile-René Ménard (15 April 1862, in Paris – 13 January 1930, in Paris) was a French painter. From early childhood he was immersed in an artistic environment: Corot, Millet and the Barbizon painters frequented his family home, familiarizi ...

Approach to painting

Ancher's paintings are mainly centred on scenes from Skagen and on her family and friends. Although many of her subjects are the same as those of the Skagen Painters, she unmistakably adopts the style of her generation, making full use of colour to bring out the features of her interiors, garden scenes and flower paintings. In addition to her intimate approach to portraits, she painted a number of landscapes, often reflecting the effects of autumn or twilight. Like her contemporaries, she was also interested in literary subjects, especially opera and ballet. Some of her figure paintings and her animal works depicting horses and deer border on

Impressionism Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement characterized by relatively small, thin, yet visible brush strokes, open Composition (visual arts), composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating ...

. Ancher exhibited little, concentrating instead on presenting her parents works and preserving their memory. On her death on 18 March 1964, she bequeathed the family home for use as a museum. Opened in 1967 as the

Michael and Anna Ancher House Anchers Hus is an art museum and gallery situated in the former residence of the painters Michael and Anna Ancher in Skagen, Denmark. Anchers Hus is located on Markvej in Skagen, Denmark. History Michael Ancher (1849-1927) and Anna Ancher (185 ...

, it displays a large collection of their works.

Appearance in the works of the Skagen Painters

Helga Ancher was frequently depicted in the works of the Skagen Painters. File:Anna Ancher - Sunlight in the blue room - Google Art Project.jpg, ''Solskin i den blå stue'' ('' Sunlight in the Blue Room''), 1891, by Anna Ancher File:Anna Ancher-Interior With The Painter's Daughter Helga Sewing.jpg , ''Interior With The Painter's Daughter Helga Sewing'', 1890, by Anna Ancher File:'Hip, Hip, Hurrah! Artist Festival at Skagen', by Peder Severin Krøyer (1888) Demisted with DXO PhotoLab Clearview; cropped away black border edge.jpg, ''

Hip, Hip, Hurrah! ''Hip, Hip, Hurrah!'' (Danish: ''Hip, hip, hurra! Kunstnerfest på Skagen'') is an oil-on-canvas painting from 1888 by Danish painter Peder Severin Krøyer. Description The work shows various members of the Skagen Painters: a group of Danish, ...

'', P.S. Kroyer, 1888 File:Anna-ancher-with-helga-in-the-garden.jpg, ''Anna Ancher with Helga in the Garden'', Michael Ancher, c.1985 File:Michael peter ancher self portrait.jpg, Michael Ancher: ''Self portrait with Anna and Helga'', 1990

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ancher, Helga 1883 births 1964 deaths Skagen Painters Danish women painters 20th-century Danish painters People from Skagen 20th-century Danish women artists 19th-century Danish women artists