Vilhelm Hammershi, 1864-1916: Danish painter of solitude and light
by Vilhelm Hammershøi, Anne-Birgitte Fonsmark (dir), Mikael Wivel, Henri Loyrette, Robert Rosenblum
Category: Art

Danish painter Vilhelm Hammershoi (1864-1916), whose work is frequently compared to Vermeer's, has been overlooked for nearly a century. The catalogue for an exhibition that received wide acclaim at the Musee d'Orsay, Paris, and that opens at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, in June 1998, this handsome book presents 80 of Hammershoi's distinctive and intimate portraits, landscapes, and interiors.Hammershoi exhibited extensively throughout Europe and was recognized by his peers as the premier Danish painter; critics often included him among the French Impressionists. His reputation diminished after his death, however, and he remained relatively unknown until his recent rediscovery.Today's art lovers will immediately respond to Hammershoi's extraordinary use of line, light, and shadow, and to his interiors and landscapes punctuated with a mood of concentrated absence. His portraits, too, are compelling psychological studies, often reflecting the isolation of the long Scandinavian winter. This book restores Hammershoi's rightful place in the history of art.