Image gallery for: Female artists in history anna ancher danish painter 1859 1935 the red livingroom at amalievej frederiksberg the artist s daughter helga reading at the window 1900 oil on canvas 70 x 55 cm 27 56 x 21 65 in signed and dated a ancher 1900 private collection © photo bruun rasmussen catalogue note bruun rasmussen michael and anna were often in copenhagen in connection with their exhibitions at charlottenborg and their daughter helga had begun taking drawing lessons in the city therefore they decided to buy a house instead of always having to stay in a hotel the choice fell on a house on amalievej 6 frederiksberg the house was owned by constantin hansen s widow hansen had designed the house which was two storeyed and contained a studio thorvald bindesbøll was asked by ancher to design a studio building on the eastern side of the house today the house no longer exists the painter elise konstantin hansen the daughter of constantin hansen still remembers the red living room which she considered to be the most beautiful place she had ever known paintings by both michael anna and helga in the red living room exist in the present work anna has depicted helga sitting at a tiled table by the window where the sunset makes the living room extra red anna kirstine brøndum was born in skagen denmark the daughter of erik andersen brøndum 1820–1890 and ane hedvig møller 1826 1916 she was the only one of the skagen painters who was actually born and grew up in skagen where her father owned the brøndums hotel the artistic talent of anna ancher became obvious at an early age and she grew acquainted with pictorial art via the many artists who settled to paint in skagen in north of jutland while she studied drawing for three years at the vilhelm kyhn college of painting in copenhagen she developed her own style and was a pioneer in observing the interplay of different colours in natural light she also studied drawing in paris at the atelier of pierre puvis de chavannes along with marie triepcke who would marry peder severin krøyer another skagen painter in 1880 she married fellow painter michael ancher whom she met in skagen they had one daughter helga ancher despite pressure from society that married women should devote themselves to household duties she continued painting after marriage anna ancher is considered to be one of the great danish pictorial artists by virtue of her abilities as a character painter and colourist her art found its expression in nordic art s modern breakthrough towards a more truthful depiction of reality e g in blue ane 1882 and the girl in the kitchen 1883–1886 ancher preferred to paint interiors and simple themes from the everyday lives of the skagen people especially fishermen women and children she was intensely preoccupied with exploring light and colour as in interior with clematis 1913 she also created more complex compositions such as a funeral 1891 anna ancher s works have often represented danish art abroad she was awarded the ingenio et arti medal in 1913 and the tagea brandt rejselegat in 1924 source wikipedia