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Interior with the Artist's Easel

Vilhelm Hammershøi1910

SMK - Statens Museum for Kunst

SMK - Statens Museum for Kunst
Copenhagen, Denmark

The painting is one of those interiors for which Hammershøi is famous. The easel also makes a painting a variation on the theme "the artist and his motif", but without featuring the artist himself; Hammershøi wanted to avoid narratives in his paintings.

Even in his own day Hammershøi became mainly known for his interiors. He would return to the subject over and over again with an almost uncanny tenacity, always trying out new effects. The paintings depict empty, ascetic, and eerily static rooms infused with a silent, tense atmosphere and with a mellow light falling in through the windows to gently touch the walls. The air has an almost physical texture to it, and at the same time the material objects in the scenes seem to dissolve, which means that everything takes on the same airy, vibrating quality. The colours are restricted to a narrow spectrum of greys and whites, but the wealth of nuance is tremendous.

The interiors frequently feature a single woman, often with her back turned to us as in this painting. Regardless of pose, she always seems frozen and wrapped up in her own world. Life seems to have stopped, and not even an open door establishes contact to the world outside. The artist has obviously been working on a painting and has stepped away from it for a moment. This makes the painting a version on the theme The Artist and his Motif. It is, however, typical of Hammershøi to avoid painting himself into the scene; he did not want it to take on narrative aspects.

Hammershøi’s interiors are indebted to Danish art from the first half of the 19th century and to Dutch 17th century art, but they stand apart from their predecessors with their unique, eerie atmosphere.

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  • Title: Interior with the Artist's Easel
  • Creator: Vilhelm Hammershøi
  • Creator Lifespan: 1864 København - 1916 København
  • Creator Nationality: Danish
  • Creator Gender: Male
  • Creator Death Place: København
  • Creator Birth Place: København
  • Date Created: 1910
  • Værktekst: Billedet er et af Hammershøis kendte interiørbilleder.Med det efterladte staffeli bliver billedet også en variation over temaet "kunstneren og hans motiv", dog uden kunstneren selv, da Hammershøi ønskede at undgå en fortællende karakter. Hammershøi blev allerede i sin samtid først og fremmest kendt for sine interiørbilleder, som han med næsten uhyggelig konsekvens dyrkede igen og igen, hele tiden for at afprøve nye billedvirkninger. Det var skildringer af tomme, asketiske og mærkeligt stillestående stuer, helt præget af en tyst, spændingsfyldt stemning og af et sart lys, der falder ind fra et vindue og lægger sig blidt på væggene. Luften har nærmest fysisk konsistens, og samtidig synes billedernes materielle genstande at opløses, så alt får den samme luftige og vibrerende fremtoning. Farverne er holdt inden for et snævert spektrum af grå og hvide farvetoner, men med en utrolig nuance rigdom. I rummet ses gerne en ensom kvinde, ofte rygvendt som i dette billede og altid fastfrosset i sin stilling og tilsyneladende lukket inde i sin egen verden. Livet synes at være gået i stå, og selv ikke en åbenstående dør skaber kontakt til verden udenfor.I dette billede har Hammershøi for en gangs skyld malet sit staffeli stående i den tomme stue. Maleren har tydeligvis været i gang med et maleri, som han har forladt et øjeblik. Herved er billedet blevet en variation over temaet 'Kunstneren og hans motiv'. Men meget betegnende for Hammershøi har han her undladt at male sig selv med i billedet, da han har villet undgå, at det skulle få en fortællende karakter. Hammershøis interiørbilleder står i gæld til den danske guldalderkunst fra den første halvdel af 1800-tallet og til det hollandske maleri fra 1600-tallet, men adskiller sig fra forbillederne ved den helt særegne knugende stemning.
  • Teknik: Olie på lærred
  • Proveniens: Køb med tilskud fra Statens Museumsnævn 1988
  • Provenance: Acquired 1988
  • Physical Dimensions: w69 x h84 cm (Without frame)
  • Featured Place: København
  • Dansk link: http://www.smk.dk/index.php?id=2676
  • Dansk Titel: Interiør med kunstnerens staffeli
  • Type: Painting
  • Rights: Statens Museum for Kunst, http://www.smk.dk/en/copyright/creative-commons/
  • Medium: Oil on canvas
SMK - Statens Museum for Kunst

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