Sketch for “The Girl with the Sunflowers”

Michael Ancher made this 1889 sketch for his larger painting 'The Girl with the Sunflowers' in the manner of preparatory study characteristic of his rigorous practice. Ancher, a central figure of the Skagen colony, worked carefully from preliminary sketches to finished canvases, and this study reveals his compositional thinking. The subject — a girl with sunflowers, combining human figure and vivid natural color — is characteristic of Skagen's interest in the specific people and visual material of Denmark's northernmost fishing community. Ancher's preparatory works give insight into his methodical approach to figure composition.

The sketch has the freshness of direct observation that distinguishes preparatory work, the broad outlines of composition visible without the refinement of the finished canvas. Ancher's handling is loose and exploratory here, testing relationships of figure and sunflower. The palette captures the essential color relationships of the final composition.