Jacob Sømme

Michael Ancher was the leading male painter of the Skagen artists' colony — husband to the more psychologically subtle Anna Ancher — and his portraits of local fishermen constitute a major body of documentary figure painting of the North Jutland fishing community. His portrait of Jacob Sømme (1889) belongs to this series of individualized, dignified portrayals of Skagen's working men — fishermen, pilots, and other sea workers rendered as specific individuals rather than generic types. Ancher's commitment to the individual character of his Skagen subjects distinguished his work from the more picturesque Orientalist treatment of fishing communities.

Ancher renders Jacob Sømme with direct, unromanticized attention — the weathered face and working man's bearing depicted with honest observation. His handling is confident and direct in the manner he developed through intensive practice in the Skagen fishing community. The outdoor light of the Danish coast, in which he frequently placed his subjects, gives the portraits their characteristic Nordic luminosity.