Artwork
Two Girls in a Field. A Summer’s Day
Two Girls in a Field. A Summer’s Day is an oil painting by the Impressionist artist Michael Ancher. It dates from 1894 and is held in the collection of the Statens Museum for Kunst.
About this work
Subject & Meaning
The painting shows two young girls standing amid a sunlit meadow, their relaxed poses and gentle smiles conveying a fleeting moment of innocent leisure.
The painting shows two young girls standing amid a sunlit meadow, their relaxed poses and gentle smiles conveying a fleeting moment of innocent leisure. The surrounding wildflowers and rolling hills evoke the abundance of the Danish countryside, while the soft, diffused light suggests the warmth of a midsummer afternoon. Together these elements symbolize the transience of youth and the pastoral ideal that Ancher sought to preserve in his work.
Ancher’s focus on everyday rural life reflects the late‑19th‑century Danish artistic interest in documenting local customs and landscapes before industrialization altered them. By placing the girls in an open field, he emphasizes both the natural beauty of the environment and the social context of rural childhood, turning a simple scene into a quiet meditation on freedom and the passage of time.
Technique & Style
Two Girls in a Field. A Summer's Day is an oil painting on canvas, executed in 1887 by Michael Ancher. The work is classified as a landscape painting and measures 43 cm in height by 62.5 cm in width.
Its modest, horizontally oriented format suits the open-field subject, with the canvas support providing the standard ground for Ancher's oil-based handling. The painting is held in the collection of Statens Museum for Kunst and was included in the exhibition From Golden Age to Cobra: 150 years of Danish Art.
No further details regarding specific brushwork, palette, surface condition, or stylistic development are documented in the available sources.
History & Provenance
The painting Two Girls in a Field. A Summer’s Day was created by Michael Ancher in 1887, as confirmed by both the artist’s record and the work’s inclusion in the Statens Museum for Kunst collection. The painting depicts two young girls in an open field, rendered in oil on canvas with dimensions of 43 cm in height and 62.5 cm in width.
It was later featured in the exhibition From Golden Age to Cobra: 150 years of Danish Art, indicating its recognition within Danish art history.
Michael Ancher's 1887 painting Two Girls in a Field. A Summer's Day is held in the collection of the Statens Museum for Kunst in Copenhagen. The work, executed in oil on canvas, measures 43 cm in height and 62.5 cm in width. It was included in the exhibition From Golden Age to Cobra: 150 years of Danish Art.
Context
Michael Ancher's 1887 oil painting Two Girls in a Field. A Summer’s Day entered the collection of the Statens Museum for Kunst, where it was featured in the 2018 exhibition From Golden Age to Cobra: 150 years of Danish Art. Scholarship identifies the work as a characteristic example of Ancher’s mature landscape phase, noting its plein-air handling and subtle play of light that situates it within the broader development of Danish naturalism in the late 19th century.
Overview
Created in 1894 by Danish realist Michael Ancher, Two Girls in a Field. A Summer’s Day is an oil painting that depicts a quiet rural scene. The composition shows two young women seated in a tall, sun‑lit meadow, their backs turned toward the viewer, set against a pale sky and a distant dirt track.
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Artist & collection
Artist
Michael Peter Ancher (9 June 1849 – 19 September 1927) was a Danish realist artist, widely known for his paintings of fishermen, the Skagerrak and the North Sea, and other scenes from the Danish fishing community in Skagen.
