The Albert Anker-Haus Ins Foundation, established in 1994, is the sole proprietor of the Centre Albert Anker. It owns the entire collection, including the historic residential building with the artist’s studio, and its primary purpose is to preserve it. The collection has grown over the years: although acquisitions are excluded by the statutes, the Foundation has been able to accept numerous significant donations. Around 140 objects have been added since the Foundation was established. These primarily include artistic works such as paintings, drawings, and watercolors, but also sketchbooks, Anker’s self-made notebooks, the “Carnets”, as well as historical objects, such as a so-called „Anker-Kanne“, the characteristic coffee pot that Anker depicted multiple times in his still lifes.
Albert Anker painted what was immediately around him. His interiors were mostly created in his own home. Studies of domestic interiors or “snapshots” of everyday family life, such as the sketch-like scene with Anna Anker (1835 – 1917) in the salon No. 1.1 , are numerous in Anker’s work. He likely drew them on the spot. Anker often worked with preliminary sketches in pencil or pen, which served as guides. In watercolors, they often remain visible due to the translucent paint No. 1.2 . Anker’s beloved, unmarried aunt and godmother, Anna Maria (1798 – 1873), ran the household of her widowed brother until the end of her life. The room known as the “chambre de la tante” in the historic residence still serves as a reminder of her today. Anker captured it in his ink drawing No. 1.3 , which was returned to Ins as a donation. Anker spent most of his life in Ins and in the rural Bernese Seeland — a setting that inspired many of his landscape motifs. As a genre painter, he mostly worked in his studio, where he developed lifelike, nature-oriented depictions. Occasionally he took his easel outside to sketch and paint directly on site, as in the oil sketch Waldrand No. 1.4 , painted in the Impressionist style. This work is particularly noteworthy because Anker generally distinguished himself from the Impressionists — the “hommes chics”, as he called them in a 1874 letter to his wife Anna — through his pictoral language. Yet not without a certain wistfulness. In a 1888 letter to his artist friend Auguste Bachelin (1830 – 1890), he confessed: “I sometimes deeply regret not having apprenticed with a landscape painter.”
After some initial hesitation, Anker signed a contract in 1891 with the publisher Frédéric Zahn (1857 – 1919) to illustrate the deluxe edition of Gotthelf’s stories. Between 1889 and 1899, Anker made repeated trips to the Emmental in search of subjects for his illustrations. The edition was published in two parts and nine volumes between 1894 and 1904. Anker found the work on the illustrations laborious, as he resented collaborating with the businessman Zahn, who not only gave precise instructions but also set strict deadlines. In a letter dated January 4, 1897, to his friend Albert de Meuron (1823 – 1897), Anker lamented: “This dreadful Zahn has me in his clutches. He’s going to squeeze me dry like a lemon.” Anker was also occasionally dissatisfied with the execution of his illustrations, as the woodcuts failed to adequately capture the subtleties of the original drawings. For the elaborately designed deluxe edition, Anker produced a total of over 220 illustrations. After he closed his studio in Paris in 1890 and stopped selling paintings through the art dealer Goupil, the Gotthelf illustrations provided him with a steady income. Despite his antipathy toward Zahn, the commission earned him good money, which is why he continued to illustrate Zahn’s publications in 1899. For example, for Swiss History Told for the People by Johannes Sutz.
The sketches, drawings, and studies that Anker produced in preparation for the commission reflect his precise working method and document his intensive engagement with the Emmental region. At the same time, they offer a glimpse of the landscape of that era and the characteristic Emmental farmhouses. The ink drawing In der Rauchküche No. 2.1 was donated to the foundation in 2022. It is a preliminary sketch for the print template used to illustrate Hansjoggeli der Erbvetter. Using precise hatching techniques, Anker approached the later woodcut engraving, the result of which can be seen on p. 193. Most of Anker’s drawings were translated into printing plates by the Paris-based wood engraver Frédéric Florian (1858 – 1926). The ink drawing was particularly suitable as a preliminary sketch because it most closely resembles the final print.
Anker provided 82 illustrations for Gotthelf’s novel Die Käserei in der Vehfreude. A task that must have demanded a great deal of him. In a letter to his friend, the architect Edouard Davinet (1839 – 1922), dated November 9, 1893, he described the summer during which he worked on the illustrations as “the most miserable of his life.” The ink drawing No. 2.2 , recently received as a donation, is a study for the illustration on p. 404 and one of the few depictions of an Emmental house from 1792. A more detailed version of the motif is held at the Kunstmuseum Solothurn. The illustration for the book cover of Uli der Knecht and Uli der Pächter by Hans Bachmann (1852 – 1912) must have appealed to Albert Anker. In his “Carnet” No. 20, No. 2.3 , which the Foundation received as a donation, he traced it in 1895.
Rosina Probst (1845 – 1926), who was born in Ins, was portrayed by Anker twice at the age of 18. “Hanslirööseli”, as she was called, is said to have been a particularly pretty young woman; this is also recorded in the notes of Albert Anker. Sein Dorf und seine Modelle by Fritz Probst (1881 – 1968), published in 1954 by his daughter Marguerite Janson. In it, the long-time Inser teacher recounts, among other things, the anecdote about the second portrait, No. 3.1 , on display here. Hans Probst, Rosina’s father and innkeeper of the Rebstock Inn in Ins, had wanted to purchase this painting from Anker as a dowry for his daughter’s wedding to Jakob Kästli, a master builder from Münchenbuchsee. But Anker declined, saying that Probst could not afford the painting anyway — and without further ado, he himself presented it to the bride and groom as a wedding gift.
For many years, the portrait hung in the farmhouse parlor of
the house in Münchenbuchsee. The Kästlis were proud to own
a genuine Anker painting. In 1926, shortly before her death,
the now 80-year-old Rosina handwrote her will on the back of
the frame: “I wish to remain in my home. Mother.” In 1952, the
descendants drew up a corresponding agreement stating that
“[…] this painting shall remain at the house at Kreuzgasse 126
as long as it is inhabited by a direct descendant. If this is no
longer the case, it shall be handed over to the Kunstmuseum
Bern as a loan from the Kästli family of Münchenbuchsee, to be
held in trust and kept in suitable storage.” Everybody signed.
Nevertheless, the work was sold in 2004. Rosina Probst’s
descendants filed a lawsuit, and the seller was convicted of
embezzlement in 2006 by the Burgdorf High Court. However,
reclaiming the painting was ruled out due to the buyers’ good
faith. It was not until some 20 years later that the descendants
succeeded in reacquiring the work at an auction. They donated
it to the Centre Albert Anker in 2025. The first portrait of
Rosina Probst is housed at the Musée d’art et d’histoire in
Geneva. In addition, several years ago the foundation was able
to accept as a gift the unique earrings featuring golden mice,
which Rosina Probst wears in both of her portraits, from a
great-granddaughter of the subject No. 3.2 .
A moment seen from two perspectives: During a visit by
Anker’s longtime friend, the French painter Auguste Alexandre
Hirsch (1833 – 1912), the 5- or 6-year-old Louise sat for both
artists, with a cat on her lap. The works document the slightly
differing viewing angles: While Anker sits facing his young
daughter head-on No. 4.1 , Hirsch sees her in three-quarter
profile No. 4.2 , much as illustrated in the pencil drawing of an
academic model No. 4.3 . Both works remained in Anker’s
studio; he was able to complete his painting on a sheet of
metal, while Hirsch’s remained an unfinished sketch.
Anker’s collection includes a self-portrait by Hirsch
No. 4.4 . It is not possible to say with certainty when Hirsch
gave him the work. The well-dressed man, who looks at us with
large blue eyes, appears to be significantly younger, however. It
is possible that Hirsch painted it during their joint training under Charles Gleyre (1806 – 1874) and gave it to Anker upon
completing their studies.
François Ehrmann’s (1833 – 1910) large drawing No. 4.5
illustrates how one might imagine Anker. Ehrmann also studied
under Gleyre and was a close friend of Anker and Hirsch.
Who exactly created the drawing of the two students
sketching from a model No. 4.3 at the Leipzig Academy of Fine
Arts is currently still the subject of further research.
However, like Ehrmann’s drawing, it is part of the original
collection and likely comes from Anker’s estate. Moreover, it
fits so well into this thematic ensemble that we decided to
include it in the exhibition nonetheless.
Albert Anker portrayed his firstborn daughter Louise
(1865 – 1954) countless times. Painted in oil, classically set
against a dark background, such as Louise Anker mit Katze
No. 4.1 or Bildnis Louise Anker No. 5.1 ; sketched in a playful
manner in small pen-and-ink drawings, No. 5.2 ; or rendered
in a detailed charcoal drawing on a large sheet of paper
No. 5.3 . Each of these works captures the artist’s paternal
gaze upon Louise at a specific point in her life and reveals
different facets of her personality.
In Louise Anker mit Brosche No. 5.4 , she is about five to
ten years old, wearing middle-class clothing and her hair
braided into a plait. The eponymous brooch draws the eye
through its strikingly placed dark contrast. Louise seems lost in
thought. She is not looking at us; instead, her gaze is directed
downward to the left and beyond the edge of the picture. The
drawing captivates with its cohesive composition and the
contrast between the detailed sections around the face and the sketchy lines thrown onto the page, which merely hint at
Louise’s clothing.
Another portrait, No. 5.5 , shows her a little older, as a
strikingly beautiful young woman, probably around 18 years
old. The work has been treated with a flat application of lime
paint in the background and features a conspicuous crack
running right through Louise’s face. According to an anecdotal
family tradition, Anker is said to have shown the drawing to a
friend, who remarked that it was “flatté”, meaning embellished.
Anker, who was always plagued by self-doubt, is said to have
torn up the drawing in disappointment. Louise herself, however,
retrieved the sheet from the wastebasket and kept it.
Fortunately, it has survived. The young woman gazes out of the
picture with alert eyes, open and curious.
Both sheets were passed down through several generations
in the family and were returned to Ins as a gift.
As often as Anker depicted his children, drawings or even
paintings of his wife Anna are rare. This was hardly due to a
lack of affection for her. The correspondence between Anna
and Albert documents a trusting and close relationship.
Apparently, it was Anna who did not want to pose. According to
family accounts, she felt uncomfortable being immortalized in
her husband’s art. However, this female head study No. 6.1 is
indeed of Anna, as confirmed by a note on the back of the sheet
written by her granddaughter Elisabeth Oser, who is depicted
here by Anker as an 8-year-old girl in No. 6.2.
The sheet entered the Centre Albert Anker collection as a
bequest.
In the 1880s, Anker increasingly offered watercolors and
meticulously executed charcoal drawings for sale in order to
meet the growing demand from private buyers who could not
afford oil paintings. Among these works is the watercolor Beim
Stäbchenspiel No. 7.1 . Anker dated and signed it, which
generally indicates an intention to sell. However, the work does
not appear in his meticulously kept “Livre de vente”, the
notebook in which he recorded all sales with the subject,
amount, and recipient. He may have given it away. Acquired in
2025 as a donation from the heirs of Sibylle Peyer-Meyer into
the collection of the Centre Albert Anker, the work originates
from the family of the artist Carl Theodor Meyer-Basel
(1860 – 1932). Anker and Meyer apparently met on several
occasions in Munich and Paris and may even have exchanged
works. Anker’s estate includes a landscape painting that is very
likely attributable to Meyer-Basel. It hangs in the “Salle à
manger” of the historic apartment. A relevant reference in
Anker’s notes has yet to be found.
Anker’s children, Maurice and Cécile, sit at the table in the
Anker-Stube salon, focused and engrossed in their game.
Maurice (1874 – 1931) is eleven years old at this time. The year
before, his father had handed him a map he had drawn himself,
titled Der Weg von Ins nach Oberburg, and sent him on his way.
From today’s perspective, it is unthinkable that the presumably
very lively boy should have hiked alone to the boarding school
in Oberburg near Burgdorf, which his parents had chosen for
his education. Whether the charcoal drawing of the boy
No. 7.2 sketching by the light of an oil lamp also depicts
Maurice is doubtful given the date (1895). However, Anker
often drew from memory as well; the resemblance between the
two is striking and is confirmed by the title of the drawing,
which has been passed down in the family and entered the
collection as a bequest from Hans Brefin.