Vilhelm Hammershøi (1864–1916)
Portrait of a Young Girl. The Artist’s Sister, Anna Hammershøi, 1896
Charcoal and chalk on paper
54 x 42 cm
Inventory number B 315
Vilhelm Hammershøi created several drawings based on his own works, including this one, depicting his younger sister Anna Hammershøi (1866–1955). The drawing was done after the large oil painting,1 which was Hammershøi’s debut at the Charlottenborg Autumn Exhibition in 1885.
Hammershøi has portrayed his sister in a slanting pose and placed her in a nondescript, indefinable room. We can neither see where she is sitting, what she is sitting on, nor what she is looking at. Anna Hammershøi is wearing a black dress that form a contrast to the soft, slightly blurred surroundings and transitions in the work, which is characterised by subdued shades and muted lighting.
In 1885, Hammershøi hoped to win the prestigious Neuhausen Prize, awarded each year by the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts among those artists who submitted their takes on a specific assignment, which in 1885 read: ‘Portrait of a lady. Half-length, life-sized’. But even though he fully complied with the task description, he received no award. Quite the contrary. His portrait was considered both highly unconventional and incomprehensible.2
As a protest against the exhibition jury’s lack of recognition of Hammershøi’s budding talent and originality, a number of fellow artists – including P.S. Krøyer and L.A. Ring – launched a petition which became a starting point for a revolt against the academic authorities. This prompted Hammershøi to join several other artists in founding Den frie Udstilling in 1891, modelled on the French Salon des Refusés. Den frie Udstilling became an important Danish exhibition platform for Hammershøi throughout his artistic endeavours.
Inv.no. B 315
Hammershøi has portrayed his sister in a slanting pose and placed her in a nondescript, indefinable room. We can neither see where she is sitting, what she is sitting on, nor what she is looking at. Anna Hammershøi is wearing a black dress that form a contrast to the soft, slightly blurred surroundings and transitions in the work, which is characterised by subdued shades and muted lighting.
In 1885, Hammershøi hoped to win the prestigious Neuhausen Prize, awarded each year by the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts among those artists who submitted their takes on a specific assignment, which in 1885 read: ‘Portrait of a lady. Half-length, life-sized’. But even though he fully complied with the task description, he received no award. Quite the contrary. His portrait was considered both highly unconventional and incomprehensible.2
As a protest against the exhibition jury’s lack of recognition of Hammershøi’s budding talent and originality, a number of fellow artists – including P.S. Krøyer and L.A. Ring – launched a petition which became a starting point for a revolt against the academic authorities. This prompted Hammershøi to join several other artists in founding Den frie Udstilling in 1891, modelled on the French Salon des Refusés. Den frie Udstilling became an important Danish exhibition platform for Hammershøi throughout his artistic endeavours.
Inv.no. B 315
Published in
Published in
Sophus Michaëlis and Alfred Bramsen: Vilhelm Hammershøi. Kunstneren og hans Værk, Copenhagen 1918, p. 83, cat. 30;
Hanne Finsen and Inge Vibeke Raaschou-Nielsen: Vilhelm Hammershøi. En retrospektiv udstilling, Ordrupgaard, Charlottenlund 1981, p. 83, cat. 55;
Hanne Finsen and Inge Vibeke Raaschou-Nielsen: Vilhelm Hammershøi. Painter of Stillness and Light, Wildenstein, New York og Phillips Collection, Washington, Copenhagen 1983, p. 35, cat. 32;
Poul Vad: “Vilhelm Hammershøi,” in Kjeld von Folsach og Nana Lund (ed.): Dansk kunst i Davids Samling. Fra Philipsen til Saxbo, Copenhagen 1995, pp. 94-95, cat. 32,
Tone Sinding Steinsvik, Ida Lorentzen and Bente Scavenius: Den forunderlige stillheten: Ida Lorentzen (f.1951), Vilhelm Hammershøi (1864-1916), Stiftelsen Modums Blaafarveværk, Modum 2005, p. 61, cat. 38;
Hanne Finsen and Inge Vibeke Raaschou-Nielsen: Vilhelm Hammershøi. En retrospektiv udstilling, Ordrupgaard, Charlottenlund 1981, p. 83, cat. 55;
Hanne Finsen and Inge Vibeke Raaschou-Nielsen: Vilhelm Hammershøi. Painter of Stillness and Light, Wildenstein, New York og Phillips Collection, Washington, Copenhagen 1983, p. 35, cat. 32;
Poul Vad: “Vilhelm Hammershøi,” in Kjeld von Folsach og Nana Lund (ed.): Dansk kunst i Davids Samling. Fra Philipsen til Saxbo, Copenhagen 1995, pp. 94-95, cat. 32,
Tone Sinding Steinsvik, Ida Lorentzen and Bente Scavenius: Den forunderlige stillheten: Ida Lorentzen (f.1951), Vilhelm Hammershøi (1864-1916), Stiftelsen Modums Blaafarveværk, Modum 2005, p. 61, cat. 38;
Henrik Wivel: Hammershøi in The David Collection, Copenhagen 2017, pp. 64-65;
Annette Rosenvold Hvidt and Gertrud Oelsner: Vilhelm Hammershøi. På sporet af det åbne billede, Copenhagen 2018, pp. 330-331;
Henrik Wivel: Vilhelm Hammershøi. Maleri som poesi, Copenhagen 2026, fig. 22, p. 55;
Annette Rosenvold Hvidt and Gertrud Oelsner: Vilhelm Hammershøi. På sporet af det åbne billede, Copenhagen 2018, pp. 330-331;
Henrik Wivel: Vilhelm Hammershøi. Maleri som poesi, Copenhagen 2026, fig. 22, p. 55;
Footnotes
Footnotes
1.
Vilhelm Hammershøi, Portrait of a Young Woman. The Artist’s Sister, Anna Hammershøi, 1885, The Hirschsprung Collection.
2.
Annette Rosenvold Hvidt and Gertrud Oelsner: Vilhelm Hammershøi: på sporet af det åbne billede, Copenhagen 2018, p. 102.
Vilhelm Hammershøi
Vilhelm Hammershøi (1864–1916)
Portrait of Thora Bendix, 1896
Oil on canvas
Portrait of Thora Bendix, 1896
Oil on canvas
Vilhelm Hammershøi (1864–1916)
From a Farm, Refsnæs, 1900
Oil on canvas
From a Farm, Refsnæs, 1900
Oil on canvas
Vilhelm Hammershøi (1864–1916)
Interior with a View of an Exterior Gallery, 1903
Oil on canvas
Interior with a View of an Exterior Gallery, 1903
Oil on canvas
Vilhelm Hammershøi (1864–1916)
Young Beech Forest, Frederiksværk, 1904
Oil on canvas
Young Beech Forest, Frederiksværk, 1904
Oil on canvas