albrecht samuel anker was a swiss painter and illustrator who has been called the 'national painter' of switzerland because of his enduringly popular depictions of 19th-century swiss social life. he was born in ins as the son of veterinarian samuel anker and marianne elisabeth (born gatschet). in 1836 his father became veterinarian in neuchâtel, and the anker family moved there. anker attended school in neuchâtel, where his teacher in sketching was frédéric-wilhelm moritz. he and auguste bachelin, later a fellow artist, took private drawing lessons with louis wallinger from 1845 to 1848. in 1…