Art 29 SKAGEN PAINTERSMichael Anch-
er arrived in Skagen
in 1874, and Anna
fell for him. She was
teased for sniffing the
painter’s coat when
he hung it in the
hall. In 1880, Anna
and Michael got mar-
ried. For her wedding
gift, her former art
teacher sent a china
dinner service, and a
note - now that she
had wed she might
as well throw her paint brushes into
the sea. She paid little heed. Anna
spent her mornings painting, her af-
ternoons working in the hotel, and
her evenings at the artist gatherings
in Brøndums dining room. Far from
having to fling her paint brushes
into the sea, after marrying Anna’s
artistic practice thrived. The couple
received travel grants to study art;
they went to Berlin, Vienna, Mu-
nich, and Paris.
While in Paris in 1889, Anna
met Marie Triepcke. They were both
studying at the Pierre Puvis de Cha-
vannes Atelier. Famed for her beauty,
Marie was also Danish, and shared
Anna’s passion for art. Four years
before, she had set up Den Lille Mal-
erskole in Copenhagen - a response
to the exclusion of women artists
from the academy. The women
shared the cost of a studio and hiring
teachers. Marie had fought hard to
access artistic training - “Oh, I wish
I had been born a man! They have
it a thousand times better than us
women,” she wrote, “they are free to
learn, while we have to beg our way
to anything.”
In Paris that year, Marie and
Anna studied with famous artists
and were permitted to paint from
nude models. In Copenhagen, male
models donned a loincloth for wom-en artists. One day in a café, Marie
met P.S. Krøyer. He had previous-
ly lectured at Den Lille Malerskole.
Sixteen years her senior, he was an
acclaimed painter. They fell in love
and were married shortly afterwards.
Krøyer was dismissive of women art-
ists - “Oh these ladies, these ladies,”
he once said, “all of whom want to
paint!” Marie’s friends were worried,
they saw marriage as ‘artistic suicide’.
A self portrait of Marie survives from
that time. It shows an earnest woman
with her face half shaded; it shows an
artist intent on seeing what’s there.
There’s no artifice, no contrivance.
Keats’s motto, Beauty is truth, truth
beauty - was a favourite of Marie’s.Krøyer produced
many beautiful por-
traits of his new wife.
In one, Marie is smiling
at the unseen painter,
and her love for him,
and his for her, is tan-
gible. The couple soon
joined the Anchers
on Skagen. In those
first weeks, they stayed
in Brøndums Hotel.
Krøyer complained
that the mirror in his
room was so pitted
with green marks that he looked dis-
eased. He may have been projecting
his own anxieties - he had contract-
ed syphilis in his youth, a fact he had
kept from Marie.
Marriage had affected Marie’s
work; she was painting a lot less
than before, and they both con-
sidered him the better artist. After
a few years, they had a daughter
Vibeke. Marie became frustrated try-
ing to juggle painting with mother-
hood and domestic work. And then
there was her husband’s moods...
he swung from mania, where he
painted and partied, to debilitating
depression. Friends described Ma-
rie as becoming withdrawn and fa-
tigued. After overcoming so much
to study art, her confidence had
faltered - “what significance does it
really have if I paint?” Krøyer’s most
famous works from this time feature
his wife, elegant in white against the
blue light of a Skagen summer eve-
ning. One painting shows Anna and
Marie walking the beach together.
She would soon need some of Anna
Ancher’s legendary kindness.
Anna’s friend’s path was more
even. One particular painting, Judge-
ment of a Day’s Work, stands in tes-
timony to Anna and her husband’s
creative partnership. It was a joint
project - husband and wife both satArt 29 SKAGEN PAINTERSMichael Anch-
er arrived in Skagen
in 1874, and Anna
fell for him. She was
teased for sniffing the
painter’s coat when
he hung it in the
hall. In 1880, Anna
and Michael got mar-
ried. For her wedding
gift, her former art
teacher sent a china
dinner service, and a
note - now that she
had wed she might
as well throw her paint brushes into
the sea. She paid little heed. Anna
spent her mornings painting, her af-
ternoons working in the hotel, and
her evenings at the artist gatherings
in Brøndums dining room. Far from
having to fling her paint brushes
into the sea, after marrying Anna’s
artistic practice thrived. The couple
received travel grants to study art;
they went to Berlin, Vienna, Mu-
nich, and Paris.
While in Paris in 1889, Anna
metMarieTriepcke.Theywereboth
studyingatthePierre Puvis de Cha-
vannes Atelier. Famed for her beauty,
Marie was also Danish, and shared
Anna’s passion for art. Four years
before, she had set up Den Lille Mal-
erskole in Copenhagen - a response
to the exclusion of women artists
from the academy. The women
shared the cost of a studio and hiring
teachers. Marie had fought hard to
access artistic training - “Oh, I wish
I had been born a man! They have
it a thousand times better than us
women,” she wrote, “they are free to
learn, while we have to beg our way
to anything.”
In Paris that year, Marie and
Anna studied with famous artists
and were permitted to paint from
nude models. In Copenhagen, male
models donned a loincloth for wom-
en artists. One day in a café, Marie
met P.S. Krøyer. He had previous-
ly lectured at Den Lille Malerskole.
Sixteen years her senior, he was an
acclaimed painter. They fell in love
and were married shortly afterwards.
Krøyer was dismissive of women art-
ists - “Oh these ladies, these ladies,”
he once said, “all of whom want to
paint!” Marie’s friends were worried,
they saw marriage as ‘artistic suicide’.
A self portrait of Marie survives from
that time. It shows an earnest woman
with her face half shaded; it shows an
artist intent on seeing what’s there.
There’s no artifice, no contrivance.
Keats’s motto, Beauty is truth, truth
beauty - was a favourite of Marie’s.Krøyer produced
many beautiful por-
traits of his new wife.
In one, Marie is smiling
at the unseen painter,
and her love for him,
and his for her, is tan-
gible. The couple soon
joined the Anchers
on Skagen. In those
first weeks, they stayed
in Brøndums Hotel.
Krøyer complained
that the mirror in his
room was so pitted
with green marks that he looked dis-
eased. He may have been projecting
his own anxieties - he had contract-
ed syphilis in his youth, a fact he had
kept from Marie.
Marriage had affected Marie’s
work; she was painting a lot less
than before, and they both con-
sidered him the better artist. After
a few years, they had a daughter
Vibeke. Marie became frustrated try-
ing to juggle painting with mother-
hood and domestic work. And then
there was her husband’s moods...
he swung from mania, where he
painted and partied, to debilitating
depression. Friends described Ma-
rie as becoming withdrawn and fa-
tigued. After overcoming so much
to study art, her confidence had
faltered - “what significance does it
really have if I paint?” Krøyer’s most
famous works from this time feature
his wife, elegant in white against the
blue light of a Skagen summer eve-
ning. One painting shows Anna and
Marie walking the beach together.
She would soon need some of Anna
Ancher’s legendary kindness.
Anna’s friend’s path was more
even. One particular painting, Judge-
ment of a Day’s Work, stands in tes-
timony to Anna and her husband’s
creative partnership. It was a joint
project - husband and wife both sat