Vilhelm Hammershøi

Vilhelm Hammershøi was a Danish artist known for his distinctive talent in painting. He showed his talent with the portrait of his sister in 1885. Hammershøi was inspired by the Danish art tradition and Dutch painters from the 17th century, especially Vermeer van Delft.

He is perhaps best known for his interior paintings, where he used a finely nuanced, grey-toned color palette to interpret the poetry in "quiet spaces". In these images, the lines were more important than the colors, and they reflected the refined Danish bourgeoisie. Hammershøi was the brother of Svend Hammershøi, and he studied at the art academy in Copenhagen from 1879 to 1884. He then studied under Peder S. Krøyer. Hammershøi also painted figure compositions such as "Job" (1888) and "Artemis" (1893-1894), as well as the large group picture of Thorvald Bindesbøll, Svend Hammershøi, Karl Madsen, Jens F. Willumsen and Carl V. Holsøe in the Thielska gallery in Stockholm ( 1901).

He was also skilled at painting architectural pictures. Hammershøi's art was met with opposition from the Academy circle, which led to the formation of Den frie utstelling in 1891 by a number of younger artists.