Image source: Wikimedia Commons (Public domain). View source
Sunlight in the Blue Room
- Artist
- Anna Ancher (1859–1935)
- Date
- 1891
- Dimensions
- 65.2 x 58.8 cm
- Medium
- Oil on canvas
- Location
- Skagens Museum, Skagen, Denmark
Sunlight in the Blue Room shows a young girl seated on a chair in a room with blue walls, absorbed in crocheting. Bright sunlight streams through the window and falls in a warm golden patch on the wall and the floor beside her.
A closer look
The girl is Helga, the painter's daughter, in the family home in Skagen. The real subject, however, is the light: the yellow rectangle of sunshine glows against the cool blue walls, and the colour of the room changes where the light touches it. Anna Ancher observed these effects with great care, painting the same rooms of her house again and again at different times of day. The scene is simple and everyday, but the play of warm and cool colours gives it a peaceful intensity.
More by Anna Ancher
Famous works elsewhere
- The maid in the kitchen 1883
- Harvesters 1905
- A Funeral 1891
- Michael Ancher Painting on the Shore 1901
- A field sermon 1903