Anna Ancher - Sunlight in the blue room - Google Art Project

''Sunlight in the Blue Room'' ( da, Solskin i den blå stue) is an 1891 painting by

Anna Ancher Anna Ancher (18 August 1859 – 15 April 1935) was a Danish artist associated with the Skagen Painters, an artist colony on the northern point of Jylland, Denmark. She is considered to be one of Denmark's greatest visual artists. Background Ann ...

, an innovative Danish painter who was a central figure 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 ...

. With its many shades of blue and the sunlight pouring through the window, the painting is one of her most prominent works.

Background

The Skagen Painters were a close-knit group of mainly Danish artists who gathered each summer from the late 1870s in the fishing village of

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 ...

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 ...

, painting the local fishermen and their own gatherings and celebrations. Anna Ancher née Brøndum, the daughter of the local innkeeper, was the only member of the group from Skagen itself. Inspired by the works of the artists who spent their summers at the inn, she decided to take up painting as a profession at a time when women were not admitted to 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 ...

. In 1880, she married

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 ...

, one of the most productive members of the group. Unlike the other painters who depicted the local fishermen and landscapes captured ''en plein air'', Anna's works were mainly interiors and portraits of friends and family.

Painting description

As indicated by its full title: ''Sunshine in the Blue Room. Helga Ancher Knitting in Grandmother's Parlour'' (''Solskin i den blå stue. Helga Ancher ved strikketøjet i bedstemoders stue''), the painting depicts Anna's daughter Helga knitting in her grandmother's room. With her back to the observer, the child is busy crocheting. Despite its everyday subject, the painting is one of Anna Ancher's most captivating masterpieces with its many shades of blue and the sense of tranquility it conveys. Devoid of action, the theme is essentially the play of light in the room. The only indication of the outside world is the light streaming through the window. Mette Bøgh Jensen, curator of

Skagens Museum Skagens Museum is an art museum in Skagen, Denmark, that exhibits an extensive collection of works by members of the colony of Skagen Painters who lived and worked in the area in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Important artists include Ma ...

, explains that Anna Ancher's interior paintings are "more about the colour and light than anything else". The artist's main interest is "not in replicating the reality of the room or wall, or even the light, but rather what is left when these things are stripped away and all that remains are colour and form". Bøgh Jensen continues, "Anna Ancher's art is unlike that of anyone else. In its essence it is tied to the special world of motifs in Skagen: the fishermen's families, the harvesters, the heathers, the special colours, and the brilliant summer light." In her ''

Concise Dictionary of Women Artists ''Dictionary of Women Artists'' is a two-volume dictionary of 600 women artists born before 1945, going back to the Middle Ages. It was edited by Delia Gaze with 23 advisors and over 100 contributors. Gaze is a writer for the Oxford DNB and wro ...

'', Delia Gaze assesses Anna Ancher's achievements as remarkable "in the modernity of her idiom, with its reduced, abstracting forms and bold expressive colours, singling her out as one of the most innovative painters of her generation, exceeding most of her male colleagues, including her husband".

References

Literature

* * {{Skagen Painters 1891 paintings Paintings by Anna Ancher Paintings of children Collections of the Skagens Museum 19th-century paintings in Denmark