Being recognized by her comtemporaries and through time until today Anna Ancher actually needs no introduction. She developed an interest in art at an early age and - initially supplemented with an education at Vilhelm Kyhns Painting School for Women and later with guidance from Michael Ancher and Puvis de Chavannes in Paris - Anna Ancher examined light and colour in painting. In the mostly domestic motifs she unfolded the colour saturated paintings, she is so well known for - in Denmark as well as internationally.

On this auction we offer the only known etching by Anna Ancher on sale. Peter Michael Hornung mentions the etching thus in fourth volume of Ny Dansk Kunst: The etching was optimistically named “Opus 1” by the artist, however it was never followed by other works in the same medium. It is based on a drawing executed 14 years earlier, simplyfied and cut to size for the purpose. The model for the reading old woman is Lene, the same woman plucking seagulls in the painting from 1883. Her bent back and her smal small head defines a double arch towards the centre of the picture, and in the etching the dark shading of the shawl creates a clear contrast to the light background.