Michael Peter Ancher
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Michael Peter Ancher (June 9, 1849 – September 19, 1927), born on the island of Bornholm, was a Danish painter. In 1874 he joined the growing society of artists in Skagen, the Skagen Painters, and in 1880 he married fellow painter and Skagen native Anna Brøndum and settled permanently in the town.
Michael Ancher is famous for his paintings of the local fishermen, both portraits and full-figure paintings. His paintings are classics and he is probably one of Denmark's most popular artists. He got his artistic breakthrough in 1879 with the painting Vil han klare pynten (Will he round the point).
Michael Ancher's works are true-to-life depictions of reality and at the same time monumental figure compositions such as Will he Round the Point? (1880). Michael Ancher's life's work is founded on the heroic series The Lifeboat is Carried Through The Dunes (1883), The Crew Are Saved (1894) and The Drowned Man (1896).
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, and he found it difficult to adjust to Scandinavian painting's modern breakthrough, the "Skagen school". 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 (1883-1887).
The works of Anna and Michael Ancher can be seen at the Skagen Museum, the Royal Museum of Fine Arts, the Frederiksborg Museum, the Hirschsprung Collection and Ribe Art Museum. Michael Ancher received the Eckersberg Medal in 1889. Originally their paintings hung in the dining room of the Brøndum Hotel in Skagen town. The painter P.S. Krøyer conceived the idea of placing paintings by different artists in the wall panels. In 1946 the dining hall was donated to the Skagen Museum.
In 1967 Michael and Anna Ancher's house was turned into a museum by the Helga Ancher Foundation. Michael and Anna Ancher's house (Anchers Hus) in Skagen has been converted to a museum and is open to the public for tours. Original furniture and paintings created by the Anchers and other Skagen artists are shown in the restored home and studio. Art exhibitions are arranged in Saxilds Gaard, another building on the property.
