Background
Albert Anker was born on April 1, 1831 in Ins, Switzerland. He was the son of Samuel Anker, a veterinarian, and Marianne Elisabeth (Gatschet) Anker.
Albert Anker was born on April 1, 1831 in Ins, Switzerland. He was the son of Samuel Anker, a veterinarian, and Marianne Elisabeth (Gatschet) Anker.
During the period from 1845 to 1848, Albert Anker took drawing lessons at school in Neuchâtel. Between 1849-1851, he attended the Gymnasium Kirchenfeld in Bern. In 1851, Anker started to learn theology in Bern, continuing at the Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg in Germany.
In 1855, he enrolled at the École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts, graduating in 1860.
The painter also received an Honorary degree from the University of Bern.
In 1861, after completing his training at the institute, Anker visited Northern Italy and observed the works of masters like Titian and Corregio.
During the period from 1870 to 1874, Anker was a member of the Grand Council of Bern, where he advocated the construction of the Kunstmuseum Bern. Between 1889-1893 and 1895–1898, Albert was appointed a member of the Swiss Federal Art Commission. Throughout his life, he remained a member of many international juries. To provide for a steady income, Anker also decorated more than 500 faience plates for the Alsatian producer Théodore Deck.
Anker travelled to many countries in Europe repeatedly, particularly Italy, Germany, France and Belgium and he liked to spend winters in Paris. Till 1890, he spent his summers in Ins, Switzerland, where he would devote his time to painting his rural subjects. In 1891, he settled down there permanently and started working on illustrating the works of the Swiss novelist Jeremias Gotthelf.
After his death, an exhibition dedicated to him, was held at the Musée d'art et d'histoire in Neuchâtel.
Schreibunterricht
Die Dorfschule von 1848
Hüftbild eines Mädchens (Marie Anker)
Grossvater mit Zeitung
Portrait of a girl
Grandmother
Koch mit Spanferkel
Der Trinker
Die Knöchelspieler
Bildnis Emilie Weiss (mit Plüschtier)
The village tailor
Bildnis Therese von Wyttenbach-von Fischer
Böckligumpen
Die Armensuppe
Die Kartenlgerin
Bildnis eines blonden Mädchens
Die Bauern und die Zeitung
The Strawberry Girl
Die Ziviltrauung
Little Red Riding Hood
Die Arbeitsamen
Sleeping girl on a wooden bench
Strickendes Mädchen mit Korb
Le Vieux Schnapseur - Un Jules Avec Verre De Schnaps
Die Andacht des Grossvaters
The Crèche I
Sitzende Bäuerin beim Stricken
Schreibender Knabe
The Little Potato Peeler
Der Seifenbläser
Mädchen mit roter Haube
The Village Tailor
Der Grossvater erzählt eine Geschichte
Girl Knitting
Der Gemeindeschreiber
Jeune fille nourrissant les poules
Turnstunde in Ins
Still Life: Excess
The Zaeslin siblings
The little knitters
The prodigal son
Ruedi Anker auf dem Totenbett, Sammlung Christoph Blocher
Portrait of a boy with cap
La Reine Berthe et les fileuses
Die Söhne Chrétien, Paris
Mädchen, Kaffee trinkend
Self-portrait in profile, left
Kinderfrühstück
Self-Portrait
The Absinth Drinker
Hohes Alter II (alte Frau sich aufwärmend)
Kinderbegräbnis
Ältere Frau in der Bibel lesend
Schreibender Knabe mit Schwesterchen
The Louvre, Paris
Young Girl Knitting
School boy with slate board in a snowy landscape
Der Schulspaziergang
Die Kappeler Milchsuppe
Mädchen in Winterlandschaft
Kind mit Puppe
Sitzendes Mädchen mit einer Katze
Junge Frau einen Brief schreibend
Mädchen mit Hampelmann (Marie Anker)
Little Girl Knitting
Die Bourbakis
Schlafender Knabe im Heu
A mouse with a peanut
Louise Anker
Strickendes Mädchen
Strickendes Mädchen
Bathers
Portrait of a boy
Bertha Gugger mit Tochter
The absinthe drinker
Bildnis des jungen de Bros
Bildnis eines Knaben (Walter Stucki?)
Bäuerin am Spinnrad
Young mother contemplating her sleeping child in candlelight
La Parisienne
Die Länderkinder
Bauernstube mit grünem Ofen
Grossmutter beim Bibel lesen
Old man taking a rest (Gyp)
Der Pfahlbauer
Schoolboy
Knitting Bernese woman with child
Schulmädchen bei den Hausaufgaben
Dans les bois
Bildnis Emilie Weiss
Lesender Mann
Wounded Soldier
Schreibender Knabe
Die Verbannten
Der Quacksalber
Sunday afternoon
Knitting Girl Watching the Toddler in a Craddle
Mädchen, die Haare flechtend
Portrait of a girl
Das Mädchen mit den Dominosteinen, Tondo
Die ältere Schwester
The school exam
Brustbild eines Mädchens in Berner Tracht
Zwei schlafende Mädchen auf der Ofenbank
Anker married Anna Rüfli in 1864. The couple gave birth to six children, two of which died at an early age. Their children Louise, Marie, Maurice and Cécile appeared on some of Anker's paintings.