Albert Anker

The painting that belongs to this drawing is one of Anker’s most graceful genre paintings. Like the painting, the style of the charcoal drawing is strongly reminiscent of the Dutch painter Jan Vermeer, showing as it does a girl who is completely absorbed in an everyday activity. With her eyes lowered she is braiding her hair attentively, morning light pours through the window from the left, setting the figure off from the dark background. Various objects make the room recognizable as a bedroom. The candle has gone out, the girl is preparing for school. The open book juxtaposes this intimate scene from everyday life with a motif of education and learning – that no one should be excluded was a major concern for Anker. He was interested in people, both their individuality and milieu. Curiosity and a thirst for knowledge should include everyone. The image conveys intimacy and security. Everything has been rendered with meticulous plasticity, subtle tonality, and material presence. Gestures and emotions remain reserved, associations of striking blond hair in the sun’s rays, and flowering youth with the coming of the day are being evoked.