Exhibited: Ordrupgaard, “L.A. Ring. Mellem lys og mørke”, 2016–2017, Cat. No. 69, ill. p. 100, fig. 86.

Stella Kähler (1886–1948) was the sister of the artist's wife Sigrid Ring (1874–1923), born Kähler, and Ring's youngest sister-in-law. Sigrid and Stella came out of a group of six siblings, and their father was Herman A. Kähler (1846–1917), who owned Kähler's Keramiske Fabrik (Ceramic Factory) in Næstved. The lively and large group of siblings frequently visited the Ring family's various homes over the years. Like Sigrid, Stella Kähler was an independent designer at Kähler's factory. Here, she is depicted lying ill in bed at the home of her sister and brother-in-law in Baldersbrønde, where they moved in 1902. The light comes from the characteristic kerosene lamp, which we know from several of Ring's interior depictions of the artist's home, and emphasizes the soft intimate family space in and around the young girl's sickbed.

The motif of 'The sick girl' is an independent genre within the art of painting in the latter half of the 19th century, and it was the theme of the exhibition “ENGLENS KYS. Syge piger i nordisk kunst” (The kiss of the angel. Sick girls in Nordic art) at the Art Museums of Skagen and the Hirschsprung Collection in 2021.