On the reverse a signed exhibition etiquette.

Michael Ancher’s desire to become a painter began in 1865, when he met the artists Th. Philipsen and Vilh. Groth. His interest grew stronger and stronger, and in 1871 he was admitted to the Academy. Ancher was soon accepted into the model school, though he never succeeded in completing his final examination. In 1875 he left the Academy to spend longer periods in Skagen. Michael was deeply absorbed in the lives and work of the fishermen, whom he depicted through truthful and vivid portrayals of the landscape and its people. Over the years he painted a large number of portraits of the local Skagen fishermen. Not merely as models, but as individuals he knew personally and respected. It was precisely these many portraits that made him one of the key interpreters of Skagen’s human narrative. As he came to understand the harsh conditions of the population, his paintings took on an increasingly realistic character. Ancher was early drawn to Raphael, and through studying reproductions in his room at the guesthouse, he learned to model the human figure so that it stands firmly planted on the ground. No Danish painter has devoted as much effort to depicting the fishermen as Michael Ancher.