Vilhelm Hammershøi: the eminence in greys | Hacker News Reader

Vilhelm Hammershøi: the eminence in greys

richardmorris.org

Pleased to see one of my favorite painters on HN! Fortunate to have seen several of his works in person--hard to express how subtly evocative they are.

I really love him too! One of my absolute favorites.

For people who visit Copenhagen with the same affinity there is the obvious national gallery SMK[1].

But other worthwhile visits catering to Vilhelm Hammershøi are often overlooked.

The Hirchsprung Collection[2][3] is literally in the backyard of SMK. You will likely not pass it unless you go look for it but it is only a 5 min walk away.

Even less known is the magnificent The David Collection. It is in the absolute city centre right next to Rosenborg Castle. This is a true gem with free entrance all year round. Even with all the Copenhagen travel hype I rarely see it mentioned. They are right now having a special showing of some of his works February 15, 2025 - January 4, 2026. If memory serves they also have a few as part of their regular exhibition.

If you are willing to go to the suburbs of Copenhagen then you should not miss Ordrupgaard[5]. Not as well known internationally as Louisiana but actually closer to Copenhagen and easy to reach with public transportation.

...oh - and I almost forgot Glyploteket[6]. Known for their statues and egyptian colletion but they have paintings as well. I could not find it online so I might be misremembering seeing a Hammshøi there. For people visiting Copenhagen I actually would give this museum my top recommendation of all the museums. It is a really nice place with an awe inspiring collection.

So being the fanboy that I am the (slightly) amusing part is that I live only a 5 min walk from where he lived :-)

[1] https://www.smk.dk/en/artist_profile/vilhelm-hammershoei/

[2] https://www.hirschsprung.dk/en

[3] https://www.hirschsprung.dk/samling/kunst/vilhelm-hammershoi

[4] https://www.davidmus.dk/exhibitions/vilhelm-hammershoi

[5] https://ordrupgaard.dk/udstillinger/vilhelm-hammershoei/

[6] https://www.glyptoteket.com/

Update: I went by Glyploteket and they do actually have at least 2 paintings by him. One of them was the view of the back of the British Museum as seen in the BBC documentary with Michael Palin. The other was a rather stunning painting of a egyptian relief he saw in a museum in Paris.

I'm not an art person by any measure, but I have a hunch it's really difficult to paint convincing looking environments under such low-light conditions. The one that really caught my eye is "The Old Piano": look at the subtle texture and shading on the walls. The painting seems to be set on a murky morning or late afternoon - very few shades of colors to work with, and yet the artist was able to add an amazing amount of detail! Under such lighting, one would struggle to pick up details even with the naked eye, and yet looking at the artwork one feels that everything to see is there and can be studied.

The same with "Interior with a Marble Niche".

Amazing!

I have not been fortunate enough to see any in person. Would love to. But just wanted to add for anyone else that Michael Palin is an admirer[1] of Hammershøi. And he did a thoughtful documentary on him for BBC[2]. It's unofficially available, last I looked, and worth a watch.

[1] https://artsfile.ca/michael-palin/

[2] https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b007ccc2

If anyone deserves a Werner Herzog biopic it is surely this man.

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