The German painter, sculptor and graphic artist Hanns Anker studied at the Berlin School for the Decorative and Applied Arts and the Berlin Art Academy. His academy studies in Germany were followed by training under J.P. Laurens and at the Académie Julian in Paris. Appreciated for his work as a graphic artist and illustrator, Anker illustrated numerous novels and children's books, including M. Möller's Der große Krieg (1915), F. Dahn's Ein Kampf um Rom (1922) and several portfolios of his prints were published ('Braunkohle and Brikett, 50 Jahre Bubiag' 1925, 'Das Jahr' 1925).

While working as a graphic artist, Hanns Anker also published the theoretical treatise (ca 1900) 'Die Grotesklinie and ihre Spiegelvariation im modernen Ornament and in der Dekorationsmalerei' ['The Grotesque Line and its Mirror-Image Variation in Modern Ornament and in Decorative Painting'] and designed a sample catalogue containing ornaments, vignettes and series of figures for H. Berhold, type-founders in Berlin/St Petersburg, which was later circulated as the Anker series. Hanns Anker died in Hanover in 1950.