WHAT? Anna Ancher: Painting Light
WHERE? Dulwich Picture Gallery, College Road, London SE1 7AD
WHEN? Now until 8th March
WHY GO? For balm to the soul. This atmospheric exhibition has provided a warm, cosy hug for fans since it opened at the end of last year and can happily be viewed time over to discover yet another gem from Ancher, the celebrated Scandi artist.
Ancher has received worldwide recognition for her sensitive paintings that portray a sense of honest domesticity in her Danish community throughout the 1880s.
Her intimate paintings depict family gatherings, rugged landscapes, spartan interiors and radiate warmth and light.
Famed especially for her interiors which today would not look out of place in any cool interiors magazine recreated through photography.
A member of the ‘Skagen Painters’, alongside her husband Michael, Ancher spent time in Paris amongst the Impressionists which left their mark on her style.
Given that women at that time were not encouraged to follow a career in art, she was the exception and this is the first major UK exhibition of her work, featuring over 40 images, along with a small selection of work by female contemporaries loaned by author, broadcaster and Danish art enthusiast Sandi Toksvig.
IN THE KNOW? The Skagen Painters were a close-knit colony of artists based in Skagen, a small fishing village at the northern tip of Denmark.
Remote and awash with glorious ever-changing light, it attracted artists and writers alike, including Karen Blixen who famously wrote Out of Africa in the local hotel that became a hub for socialising and was managed by Ancher’s parents.