In 1883 she made her debut at Charlottenborg Forårsudstilling (Charlottenborg Spring Exhibition), and she exhibited there again several times until 1910. During the 1880s she exhibited her works abroad several times Anna Petersen exhibited her work at the Palace of Fine Arts at the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago, Illinois. She also exhibited at the Exposition Universelle in Paris in 1889, where she met up with Willumsen and other Nordic artists including a large contingent from the Skagen Painters.