Bildnis eines blonden Mädchens

Dated 1901, this canvas was painted the same year that Albert Anker suffered a partial paralysis of his right hand — one of the most significant events in his late career. Whether this work predates or postdates the episode is uncertain, but its existence in the 1901 dating confirms Anker's continued production during an extraordinary period of physical and artistic adaptation. Anker's response to the paralysis — retraining his left hand rather than abandoning painting — was widely noted and contributed to his legendary status in Switzerland. Works from this transitional year occupy a particularly interesting position in his catalogue, potentially showing the last full right-hand execution or the first experiments with his left. Throughout the early 1900s Anker continued to produce oils, watercolours, and drawings, maintaining the subjects that had defined his career across five decades: children, elderly villagers, domestic interiors, and the quiet ceremonies of Bernese peasant life.

Works from 1901 exist at a technical threshold in Anker's practice. Right-hand paintings from earlier in the year display his full characteristic fluency, while post-paralysis works show subtle differences in stroke direction and pressure. The modelling remains careful but the handling acquires a slightly different quality — more deliberate and considered rather than the automatic sureness of earlier decades.