Anna Ancher: Painting Light brings Denmark’s greatest female painter to the UK for the first time

If you’ve ever wondered how light can feel almost alive on a canvas, Danish painter Anna Ancher has the answer, and now, for the first time, the UK can see it in person.

Anna Ancher: Painting Light opens tomorrow (the 4th of November) at Dulwich Picture Gallery, offering a rare chance to explore over 40 works by one of Denmark’s most celebrated and pioneering artists. Ancher, a central figure among the Skagen Painters, is renowned for her luminous paintings, bold colour choices, and uncanny ability to capture sunlight in interiors, on faces, and along the waves of the Danish coast.

Though Ancher is a household name in her home country, she has remained largely unknown in the UK... until now. The exhibition brings together masterpieces from across her career, including loans from The Hirschsprung Collection and Skagens Museum, providing British audiences with a rare opportunity to experience her work up close.

From her formal debut, Old Man Whittling Sticks (1880) to the radiant Sunlight in the Blue Room (1891), Ancher’s paintings convey an intimate connection to life in the fishing village of Skagen, where she grew up and spent much of her life. The exhibition shows how her work bridges tradition and modernity, drawing on French Impressionism and Post-Impressionism while remaining deeply rooted in the rhythms and culture of coastal Denmark.

Ancher’s story is as remarkable as her art. At a time when women were largely excluded from formal training, the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Art did not admit women until 1888. She forged a successful international career, defying social expectations and becoming one of Denmark’s most acclaimed artists.

The exhibition also celebrates women in art more broadly, featuring works by four of Ancher’s female contemporaries, Marie Luplau, Emilie Mundt, Marie Sandholdt, and Louise Bonfils, specially loaned from the collection of Sandi Toksvig.

Curated by Helen Hillyard, Head of Collection at Dulwich Picture Gallery, the exhibition is accompanied by a richly illustrated catalogue featuring new essays that explore Ancher’s life, work, and enduring legacy.

Anna Ancher: Painting Light runs from 4 November 2025 to 8 March 2026, with adult tickets from £18 (free for members). With the exhibition opening this week, now is the perfect time to see why Ancher is celebrated as a master of light and colour, and why her art continues to feel startlingly modern more than a century later.

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