Mother’s heart

A young girl wearing a blue dress sits on a blue chair in a blue room. Even the book cover on the table and the Virgin Mary in the painting on the wall are blue. Despite the bright sunlight streaming through a large window, the child remains focused on her knitting.

In "Sunlight in the Blue Room" (1891) by Anna Ancher, the color blue fills the scene. Anna Ancher, one of the most innovative painters of her time, was from Skagen, a fishing village in northern Denmark. The room in the painting belonged to her mother, and the child depicted is her eight-year-old daughter, Helga. During the 1870s, Skagen became a hub for Northern European artists, forming the renowned Skagen School. Ancher’s parents ran the only hotel in the village where these artists stayed.

Ancher’s mother raised six children while managing the hotel alongside her husband and showed special dedication to Anna, the youngest. In an era when women faced significant barriers to formal art education, she supported Anna’s artistic talent by sending her to a private art school and even arranging for her to study abroad in Paris. After Anna married fellow artist Michael Ancher and had a child, her mother continued to support her career—ensuring she had time to work by providing meals at the hotel and caring for her granddaughter. This unwavering support enabled Ancher to pursue her artistic career after marriage. In the painting, Helga is absorbed in knitting—a skill she learned from her grandmother. With warmth and affection, Ancher captures this intimate, everyday moment. Even though it depicts an ordinary, everyday scene, the subtle variations of blue create a captivating and serene atmosphere.

The bright sunlight streaming through the window may symbolize the wider world the child will one day explore. The presence of the Virgin Mary on the wall suggests a mother’s wish to protect her child. Helga later followed in her mother’s footsteps, attending Denmark’s top art school and becoming an artist herself. This legacy of creativity and ambition was made possible by the love and dedication of both her mother and grandmother.