Whitewashing the Old House
by RING, Laurits Andersen, Oil on canvas, 122 x 96 cm
The old woman Ane has opened her window and looks into the strong sunlight to exchange a few words with Per Nilen. Brandishing his brush and bucket of whitewash he is preparing her house for spring, his eyes squinting against the glare from the white wall.
Having renovated the old school in Baldersbronde near Hedehusene, the painter moved there with his family in 1902. The old woman Ane lived just across the street and helped around the house at Ring’s; she and Per Nilen appear in many of his paintings.