anna ancher The Pastels Elisabeth Fabritius forlaget vandkunsten the royal library Published with generous support from Foreword 7 The American-Scandivian Foundation Pioneer in Danish Pastel Painting 9 Twenty-Five Pastels 15 The Art of the Pastel 67 Anna Ancher’s Colours and Technique 71 Biography 79 References 95 Index 96 i would like to express my sincere thanks to Suzanne Ludvigsen, Art Historian, for a critical reading Minna Mortensen, Michael and Anna Ancher’s House in Skagen, for information on family relationships in Skagen Østerby Hans Nielsen, Skagen Local Archive, for information on houses and fi gures in Skagen Jean-Pierre Mérat, President of the Société des Pastellistes de France for references and technical information Foreword anna ancher (1859–1935) is considered to be America, there is a curious tendency to over- one of the fi nest of the Scandinavian artists look them. They are small in number in com- who excelled as pastel painters in the 1880s. parison with oil paintings and differ from In the paucity of literature on pastels, she is them aesthetically in ways that make a stylis- regarded to be on a level with the best known tic comparison diffi cult. And they are rarely pastel artists of the day: Danes such as Th. exhibited together. On account of their fra- Philipsen and P.S. Krøyer, Swedes such as Bru- gility, pastels are usually enclosed behind no Liljefors and Anders Zorn and Norwegians glass and sealed frames, which complicates a like Fritz Thaulow and Asta Nørregaard. Many closer examination, and only a small number more Scandinavian artists went in for pastel of conservators have any real experience with painting, which reached its peak at the end of them. In museums, pastels on paper are typ- the 19th century, and Anna Ancher was one ically kept together with drawings and graph- of the fi rst. ics, separate from pastels on canvas, which Anna Ancher’s pastels represent a limited, are usually kept in storerooms along with but very striking part of her art and have not paintings. previously been the subject of study or spe- Twenty-fi ve of Anna Ancher’s pastels are cifi c publication. Danish pastel painting is presented here, all of which can be counted Assistance Relating to Conservation Techniques virtually unexplored in general, and nor does as independent works of art. Pastels made as the subject receive more than scant consider- preparatory studies for oil paintings are not The technical comments on the individual now cand.scient.cons. She also analysed sam- ation in other countries. Work on this book included. The existence of a further 25 is pastels have been written on the basis of ob- ples of the canvas from the pastels on pp. 24, has surprisingly shown that Anna An cher’s known from ex hibition and auction cata- servations made by the painting conserva- 26, 31, 33, 37, 42, 47, 61, and the ground of pas- special character and artistic intentions are logues and unpublished sources. Eleven of tor, Lone Bøgh, and me in 2003–04. This does tels on pp. 26, 31, 37, 47 and 63. Finally, Kath- more clearly to be seen in the pastels than in these have been traced, while the fates of the not, however, apply to the pastel in the Ice- rine Segel and I have evaluated the technical her oil paintings. others are uncertain. There are presumably landic Art Museum (p. 33), which was exam- comments. The chapter on Anna Ancher’s Pastel is as fi ne as the dust on a butterfl y’s even more in unknown private collections. ined in 2004 by the then head conservator, paint and technique was written on the basis wing, so delicate that it is scarcely ever pos- A complete list will be published in my forth- Viktor Smári Sæmundsson, during a visit I of discussions between myself and Lone sible to assemble a major exhibition in which coming monograph on the artist. made there. During the winter of 2005–06, Bøgh and my studies of technical literature it is possible to study the special character Most of the pastels are owned by Michael three canvases in Den Hirschsprungske Sam- in research libraries in various places, includ- and splendid range of colour in pastel paint- and Anna Ancher’s House in Skagen, Skagens ling (pastels p. 37, 52, 63) were macrophoto- ing Paris. The chapter was subsequently ings and to draw comparisons between tech- Museum and Den Hirschsprungske Samling, graphed by the conservator, Mikkel Scharff, eval u ated and formulated in collaboration niques and painters. Concern for conser- others by Statens Museum for Kunst and the the head of the art department in the Royal with Kathrine Segel, who has contributed vation is virtually insurmountable. Hence art museums in Odense and Sorø. I would like Danish Academy of Art School of Conser- her valu able observations of Anna Ancher’s this book on Anna Ancher’s pastels. to thank my museum colleagues for their vation. They were subsequently analysed by canvases and her use of ground. Although pastels enjoy a fair amount of ready help and their interest in the project, es- the conservation, technician Kathrine Segel, popularity, especially in Britain and North pecially the art historian, Inge Mejer Anton- 7 sen, a member of the board of the Helga nical aspects can now be published, some- Ancher Foundation, and the art historian thing for which I am very grateful indeed to Suzanne Ludvigsen. Finally, I have encoun- both of them. In the course of our work I was tered great kindness on the part of the own- also given information by Marjorie Shelley, Pioneer in Danish Pastel Painting ers of private collections, who have permitted the chief conservator in the Metropolitan Mu- me to examine their pastels and made them seum in New York, by Lesley Carlisle of the available for this book. I have also received Tate Gallery, London, and by Professor practical help and great interest from the Mu- Anthea Callen. So this book is the result of a Anna Ancher, famous as one of the Skagen the chosen motif. This clearly refl ects Anna seumsbygningens Kunstauktioner (now Lau- happy collaboration between the humanities artists and married to the painter Michael An- Ancher’s manner of working. There are many ritz.com) and Bruun Rasmussen in Copen- and technology. cher, was from her early youth recognised as examples of her painting a motif over and hagen. I am deeply grateful to them all. an independent and talented painter. When over again. As for the story of the genesis of The project was started in 2003, and in 2004– the Skagen artists’ colony was at its peak in these works and their order in relation to each Without an expert evaluation of the tech- 05, the Ministry for Science, Technology and the fi rst half of the 1880s and painters from other, it is only possible to guess, for she rare- nical aspects of Anna Ancher’s pastels, the Development supported the compilation of Scandinavia, Germany and England went ly signed or dated them, and she left no other book would not have the same value. So I am the manuscript with a major grant. The there to pursue plein air painting in the strong concrete information of any kind. profoundly grateful to Lone Bøgh, the con- project was completed in the Royal Library light on the point between the two seas, Anna Her method and approach to her craft servator of paintings, for making her tech- in 2005–06, where I am provided with facili- Ancher was already a central fi gure. She pre- were very different indeed from those prac- nical competence and experience available to ties as a researcher. My sincere thanks go to ferred to paint human fi gures, studies of tised by her husband, Michael Ancher, a man me in 2003. Together, we examined more pas- both the Ministry and the Royal Library for women at work, children and old people, but ten years older than she. He had been taught tels than those here published and we sub- enabling me to complete this project. she herself said that colour was the most im- in the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts in sequently discussed the results of our obser- portant thing to her and her real inspiration. the 1870s and learned how by means of a series vations in relation to technical treatises from Without publication, the results of the project Anna Ancher was one of the fi rst artists in of sketched and painted preparatory works it the artist’s own time and more recent profes- would remain unknown. So I would like to Denmark to work in pastels when this French- was possible to arrive at a fi nished result that sional literature. Unfortunately, we had not express my thanks to the Beckett Founda- inspired technique gained new popularity at could be presented to the public. She closely concluded our discussions before Lone Bøgh’s tion, the Augustinus Foundation and Mr. the end of the 19th century. The fi rst known followed this process in his work. She herself sudden death in spring 2005. I owe her a pro- Bent Fredberg, owner of Brøndums Hotel for pastel by her was signed with her maiden had no such systematic teaching, since as a found debt of gratitude for valuable and in- support to the Danish edition and The Amer- name, Anna Brøndum and dated 1880, when woman she was not allowed to attend classes spiring collaboration. ican-Scandinavian Foundation for generous it was presented as one of her debut paintings in the Academy, and it was only the exception Lone Bøgh’s desire to analyse selected can- support for the English version, made pos- in Charlottenborg.