Exhibited: Charlottenborg 1899 no. 5.

Literature: Anna Ancher exhibition catalogue from Hannover, Copenhagen and Skagen, 1994: Heide Grape-Albers, “Anna Anchers maleri. Hverdagens billeder”, mentioned p. 107–108 and reproduced p. 108. A comprehensive description of the making of “Vaccination” or smallpox inoculation. A painting whose whereabouts untill recently has not been known.

Eight mothers with eleven children in the doctor's waiting-room full of sunlight. The doctor is just ready to prick a little girl who seems somewhat scared and sceptical. The atmosphere in the background is cheerful with the mothers chatting to each other.

Anna Ancher had been doing some research about the “Vaccination”. She wanted to tell about the progress of medicine and its positive social aspects but also about the care of the next generation. The waiting-room as a subject had been used by other painters known by Anna Ancher at the turn of the 19th century among others Christian Krohg, Harald Slott-Møller and Axel Helsted.

In this painting Anna Ancher accomplishes an incredible intensity of colours also to be seen in Christian Krohg's paintings. “Han influerede hendes malemåde både i kompositionel henseende og i udviklingen af hendes farvevalg - ja også i valget af emner”. (He influenced her way to paint both compositional wise and in the development of her way of using colours and even in choosing the subjects). Quotation from the exhibition catalogue p. 108.

Provenance: Mr. Lowenadler in London (1899).