Anna Archer at the Middelheim Museum

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Anna Ancher was a Danish artist born on August 18, 1859. She was associated with the Skagen Painters, an artists' colony in Denmark. Anna Ancher's artwork is considered one of the great pictorial artists in Denmark due to her skill as a character painter and colorist. Her art expressed the modern breakthrough in Nordic art towards a truthful depiction of reality. This can be seen in her paintings "Blue Ane" (1882) and "The Girl in the Kitchen" (1883-1886). Ancher preferred painting interiors and simple themes from everyday life, especially fishermen, women, and children. She was intensely interested in exploring light and color, as seen in "Interior with Clematis" (1913). She also created more complex compositions like "A Funeral" (1891). Anna Ancher's works represented Danish art abroad. She received the Ingenio et Arti medal in 1913 and the Tagea Brandt Rejselegat in 1924. Astrid Noack was a Danish sculptor born on January 30, 1888. She specialized in human figures, creating sculptures like the statue of Anna Ancher in Skagen and "Standing Woman," which was included in the Danish Culture Canon. Noack went to Copenhagen in 1902 and earned a living painting porcelain at the Aluminia faience factory. She then attended Vallekilde Højskole, specializing in sculpture and qualifying as an apprentice in 1910. Noack continued her studies under Ivar Bentsen, who had a significant influence on her work, along with other artists like Joakim Skovgaard. Noack collaborated with Skovgaard to decorate the ceiling of Viborg Cathedral (1948) as a wood carver. There, she met Niels Larsen Stevns and Arne Lofthus, both of whom encouraged her to work independently as a sculptor. In 1920, Noack went to Paris on a grant, which was a focus for significant trends in sculpture at the time. She met Adam Fischer, who played an important role in her development and conveying French ideas to Scandinavia. Noack also befriended Lena Börjeson, who had founded the Académie Scandinave free school of sculpture. Noack studied French Gothic sculpture with Jean Osouf until 1926, when she became a pupil of Fischer and Charles Despiau and Paul Cornet. They helped her develop her own style. Noack was one of the few women to benefit from the French approach to Classical Modernism. Noack's sculptures are inspired by contemporary French art, expressing an intense relationship between life and art. Her works focus on human figures, often simply standing or sitting. At a time when mankind was frequently treated with contempt, Noack strove to demonstrate her faith and trust in the human community. Her works are sincere, emanating almost pious hope that people would come together again. Noack exhibited frequently, not just in Denmark but also in Paris, Budapest, Helsinki, and Rome. In 1955, Kunstforeningen arranged a large retrospective exhibition, as did Holstebro Art Museum in 1988. Noack was awarded the Eckersberg Medal in 1940 and the Thorvaldsen Medal in 1954.