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 Skagerak and the North Sea, and other scenes from the Danish fishing community in Skagen.
Early life and education
Michael Peter Ancher was born at
One of his student companions was
After Ancher first visited Skagen in 1874, he settled there joining the growing society of artists. The colony of painters regularly met in the Brøndums Hotel in Skagen in order to exchange ideas. In 1880 Ancher married fellow painter and Skagen native Anna Brøndum, whose father owned the Brøndums Hotel. In the first years of their marriage, the couple had a home and studio in the "Garden House", which is now in the garden of the Skagens Museum. After the birth of their daughter Helga in 1883, the family moved to Markvej in Skagen.[2]
Career
He achieved his artistic breakthrough in 1879 with the painting Vil han klare pynten (Will He Round the Point?). Michael Ancher's works depict Skagen's heroic fishermen and their dramatic experiences at sea, combining realism and classical composition. Key works include The Lifeboat is Carried Through The Dunes (1883), The Crew Are Saved (1894) and The Drowned Man (1896).[1][2]
Michael Ancher was influenced by his traditional training at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts in the 1870s which imposed strict rules for composition. His marriage to Anna Ancher did, however, introduce him to the naturalistic concept of undecorated reproduction of reality and its colours. By combining the pictorial composition of his youth with the teachings of naturalism, Michael Ancher created what has been called modern monumental figurative art, such as A Baptism.[3]
Among other places, the works of Anna and Michael Ancher can be seen at the
Michael and Anna Ancher's home
The Skagen residence of Anna and Michael Ancher was purchased in 1884. In 1913, a large studio annex was added to the property and this also forms part of what is on display today. Upon her death in 1964, their daughter, Helga Ancher, left the house and all of its contents to the Helga Ancher Foundation.
In 1967 the home was turned into a museum, the
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Michael and Anna Ancher's home, Anchers Hus, in Skagen
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The dining room in the Ancher house
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The artist's atelier
Danish thousand-kroner bill
Anna and Michael Ancher were featured on the front of the previous series DKK1000 bill. The first version of the bill came into circulation on 18 September 1998, and was then updated on 25 November 2004, adding more security features. The front of the banknote featured a double portrait of Anna and Michael Ancher, derived from two 1884 paintings by Peder Severin Krøyer[4][5] which originally hung on the walls in the dining room at Brøndums Hotel.
Correspondance
A collection of almost 4,000 letters between Michael and Anna Ancher and their friends, with comments by the art historian Elisabeth Fabritius, was published as Anna og Mchael Ancher. Breve og fotografier 1866-1935 I-VI was published by Forlaget Historika. in 2020.[6]
Paintings
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Christmas Day 1900
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A Baptism
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Beach scene
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Skagen girl, Maren Sofie, knitting
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Two Fishermen by a boat
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The red lifeboat on its way out to the sea
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Anna Ancher returning from the field
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Unfinished portrait of Adrian Stokes
See also
References
- ^ a b "Michael Ancher". Kunstindeks Danmark & Weilbachs Kunstnerleksikon (in Danish). Retrieved 4 August 2014.
- ^ a b c d "Michael Ancher (1849–1927)". Skagens Museum. Retrieved 4 August 2014.
- ^ Michael Ancher (Skagens Museum)
- ISBN 87-87251-55-8. Archived from the original(PDF) on 23 May 2011. Retrieved 6 September 2010.
- ^ "1,000-krone banknote, 1997 series". Danmarks Nationalbank.
- ^ "Skagensmaleres 4000 personlige breve er blevet offentliggjort: "Det er overvældende interessant"". Kristeligt Dagblad (in Danish). Retrieved 4 March 2024.
Bibliography
- Svanholm, Lise (2001). Malerne på Skagen. Gyldendal A/S. ISBN 978-87-00-75184-2.
External links
- Brøndums Hotel (in Danish)
- Skagen Paintings