The Skagen painters loved to draw one another at parties. They did caricatures of each other, exaggerating all the comical things they could find: they made crooked noses, long ears, and enormous shoes. So, the Skagen painters used drawings as practice in registering all the fun and games they observed.
The diploma featuring a caricature of Anna Ancher was made by P. S. Krøyer and Eilif Petersen, and it contains lots of internal jokes which are hard for us to decode today – from big shoes to champagne bottles. However, Anna Ancher’s characteristic nose and tight bun make sense to us all.
What would you exaggerate in a drawing of yourself?
P.S. Krøyer, Wilhelm Peters: The Evening Academy’s diploma for Anna Ancher, 1883. Watercolour, pencil and pastel on paper on paperboard. Michael Ancher: Christoffer Outside his House, 1893. Charcoal on paper. P.S. Krøyer: Guests Attending the Painter Viggo Johansen’s Birthday on 3 January 1886. Pencil and tusche on paper. Michael Ancher: Caricature of Locher and Brodersen Returning from the Hunt, No Year. Pen and tusche over pencil on cardboard.
