Provenance: Winkel & Magnussen auction 193, 1936 no. 11. Here acquired by master carpenter Hans Pedersen. Sotheby's, 19th Century European Paintings, Drawings & Watercolours, 2 April 1998 no. 148.

Anna Ancher painted interiors from her own home on Markvej in Skagen several times, and in this painting, she has used Nordstuen (the north-facing living room) as the setting for a tea party for a group of little girls in bright summer dresses. Both Michael and Anna painted several works from this living room, including “Den lille Dagligstue mod Nord” (The little north-facing living room) by Anna Ancher sold at Bruun Rasmussen auction 763, 2006 no. 2020, ill. p. 23.

No one has put it quite as succinctly about Anna Ancher and her relationship with colours as the painter Oscar Björck: “She is like sunshine, and in her paintings, there is something that none of us possess to the same degree. A quiet devotion to the task and a colour that is as saturated and juicy as a ripe fruit.” (Oscar Björck in a letter in 1929 to Museum Director Karl Madsen).

In this painting, Anna Ancher has created a powerful interaction between colours, among other things by using the complementary colours red/green in the flowers on the windowsill, which makes them stand out clearly. In the blue curtain, Ancher has added the complementary colour orange, along with hints of purple and pink shades to depict the incidence of light through the almost transparent fabric. The light also falls on the girls around the table, which Ancher has highlighted with clear, loose brushstrokes in lighter colours, and it creates the atmosphere of a beautiful summer afternoon in the living room.