Two Girls on the Stove Bench

Albert Anker’s paintings of figures often suggest a moment spontaneously glimpsed and secretly observed: as with this painting, which shows two girls, the Räubi sisters, sleeping on a bench by the stove. The dark brown background and warm light that makes the figures stand out are characteristic of his work. Anker is known and loved for his depictions of simple, rural Swiss life, domestic activities, village scenes and images of children, for which his own offspring often sat as models. Without superimposing religious overtones on the peasants’ hard lives or conveying social criticism, he presents peaceful groups of people of different ages with dignity, founded on his interest in humanity and his underlying Christian faith.