Guided tour · One artist · Copenhagen · 1864–1916

Vilhelm Hammershøi

Grey rooms, white doors, light on the floor and a woman seen from behind: ten works, roughly in the order he made them.

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Works

10

Time

about 15 min

Collections

4

About this tour

Vilhelm Hammershøi lived and worked in Copenhagen. He painted quiet rooms, closed doors, empty squares and people seen from behind, in greys and soft light. Here are ten of his works from four museums, roughly in the order he made them. At every work, look first, then discover.

We begin in Copenhagen in 1886. Hammershøi is in his early twenties.

The 10 works

1. 

   Work 1 of 10

   The Artist's Sister Anna Reading

   Vilhelm Hammershøi · 1886 · SMK – National Gallery of Denmark, Copenhagen

   The open book is the lightest thing in this drawing. How did he make it so light?

   He left it as bare paper. All around it, he built up the darks with charcoal.

   Anna, his younger sister, was one of his first models. A portrait of her was his debut at Copenhagen's Charlottenborg exhibition, in 1885.

2. 

   Work 2 of 10

   Woman Seen from the Back

   Vilhelm Hammershøi · 1888 · SMK – National Gallery of Denmark, Copenhagen

   She is busy with something. Can you see what?

   No. Her back is turned, and her body hides her hands. We are left to guess.

   Figures turned away from us became one of Hammershøi's favourite subjects. A plain wall, a table and a chair are all the setting he needs.

3. 

   Work 3 of 10

   Evening in the Drawing Room. The Artist's Mother and Wife

   Vilhelm Hammershøi · 1891 · SMK – National Gallery of Denmark, Copenhagen

   What is the brightest thing in this dark room?

   The white cloth in her lap, catching the little light there is.

   On the left sits Ida, his new wife; on the right, his mother. Neither looks up.

4. 

   Work 4 of 10

   Amalienborg Square, Copenhagen

   Vilhelm Hammershøi · 1896 · SMK – National Gallery of Denmark, Copenhagen

   This royal square is in the heart of Copenhagen. What is missing?

   People. Not a soul crosses the square, not even a carriage.

   The rider is King Frederik V, among the palaces of Amalienborg. Hammershøi painted his city as quietly as his rooms.

5. 

   Work 5 of 10

   Interior from the Home of the Artist

   Vilhelm Hammershøi · about 1900 · Finnish National Gallery, Helsinki

   Look through the open doors. Is anyone there?

   A woman in black, in the next room, with her back to us.

   This is his flat at Strandgade 30 in Copenhagen. He often painted his wife, Ida, there, seen from behind.

6. 

   Work 6 of 10

   Interior in Strandgade, Sunlight on the Floor

   Vilhelm Hammershøi · 1901 · SMK – National Gallery of Denmark, Copenhagen

   Where does the sun reach in this room?

   The floor, where it draws the window panes as a bright grid.

   'I personally prefer the Old; old buildings, old furniture,' Hammershøi told a magazine in 1909.

7. 

   Work 7 of 10

   Moonlight, Strandgade 30

   Vilhelm Hammershøi · 1900–06 · The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

   The same kind of light on the floor. What is different?

   It is night. The moon throws the window onto the floor, in a dim, pale light.

   Hammershøi painted the rooms of his home at Strandgade 30 again and again: by day, and, as here, by night.

8. 

   Work 8 of 10

   Ida Hammershøi, the Artist's Wife, with a Teacup

   Vilhelm Hammershøi · 1907 · SMK – National Gallery of Denmark, Copenhagen

   What is she holding in her right hand?

   A teaspoon, dipped in her cup. But her eyes are elsewhere.

   Ida was his most faithful model. Here we see her face, but she does not look at us.

9. 

   Work 9 of 10

   Self-Portrait at Spurveskjul

   Vilhelm Hammershøi · 1911 · The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

   He has raised one hand, as if painting. Which hand is it?

   His left. But Hammershøi was right-handed: he painted his reflection in a mirror.

   Spurveskjul ('Sparrow's Hideaway') was the summer house. Behind him, a sunlit door and window.

10. 

    Work 10 of 10

    Interior with an Easel, Bredgade 25

    Vilhelm Hammershøi · 1912 · J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles

    There is no window in sight. Where does the light come from?

    From windows we never see. Their sunlight falls in pale, slanting shapes on the walls and floor.

    His flat and studio at Bredgade 25 in Copenhagen. By now his quiet interiors were known far beyond Denmark.

The end of the tour

Ten quiet pictures.

Closed doors, empty squares, light on bare floors, and people who turn away from us. Hammershøi died in Copenhagen in 1916, only 51, when his interiors were known far beyond Denmark.

Questions at the end

Start this tour in Auriaan

Works from these collections

• SMK – National Gallery of Denmark
• Finnish National Gallery
• The Metropolitan Museum of Art
• J. Paul Getty Museum

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