Michael Ancher

A famous artist, a brilliant representative of Danish Impressionism, and one of the founders of the colony of artists in Skagen. The colony made a significant contribution to the development of new art movements in the northern countries.

Born into the family of a sales agent Jan Ancher and his wife Ellen Elizabeth Munch.

Michael Ancher is known for his paintings of life and the hard work of fishermen and portraits of ordinary people. In the house where the painter lived with his wife, artist Anna Ancher, an artists club was organized, and then an art museum was founded, which still works.

Michael Ancher, as well as Skagen’s representatives in general, had a great influence on the development of Danish art. Their strong influence is felt in all later avant-garde styles that developed in Denmark in the 20th century.

Key ideas:

– One of the main motives of the great heritage of Michael Ancher was the struggle of people against the elements, often dramatic. Many paintings and drawings of the northern painter are devoted to dangerous episodes associated with the work of Yutland fishermen.

– Ancher chooses descriptions of reality as plots, and uses an impressionistic style as a base. The artist prefers large in format and multi-figure paintings, which makes them monumental works. Pursuing such tasks, based mostly on the subject of heroism, he successfully and distinctively combines principles close to classical historical paintings with their realism and traditional compositional techniques, with impressionistic techniques.

– Also, Ancher puts attention to scenes from rural life. He creates narrative paintings and captures the villagers, conveying the national character of the northern region and its inhabitants. At the same time, the master introduces elements of special romance into their images, often poetizing them, not forgetting to capture the original Danish flavor.