Vilhelm Hammershoi: and Danish Art at the Turn of the Century - Hardcover

Vad, Mr. Poul

9780300049565: Vilhelm Hammershoi: and Danish Art at the Turn of the Century

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0300049560 ISBN 13: 9780300049565

Publisher: Yale University Press, 1992

Vilhelm Hammershoi was a leading Danish painter of his generation. In this illustrated book - winner of the Amelienborg Prize in its Danish version - the author examines the life and work of Hammershoi. He looks at Hammershoi not only as an important Danish painter but also in the context of European art in general at the beginning of the 20th century. His biography of Hammershoi is interwoven with readings of significant or characteristic works from each phase of the painter's career - from the interior paintings to the monumental figure compositions "Artemis" and "Five Portraits", in which Hammershoi introduced pictorial innovations and summed up his vision of the human condition. The book also describes Hammershoi's relationship with many of the leading art critics, writers, patrons and dealers of his day, including Theodore Duret, Rainer Maria Rilke, Sergei Diaghilev, Arthur Clutton-Brock and the English pianist Leonard Borwick. An appendix contains previously unpublished letters from Rilke, Diaghilev and Whistler.

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Language Notes:

Text: English (translation)
Original Language: Danish

From Library Journal:

Scandinavian artists were quietly influential in 19th-century Europe, but their accomplishments are often neglected in American academic curricula. These books go a long way toward clarifying significant developments in Danish painting, and they also impart a richer understanding of Danish culture. The painters examined here together span a century of national growth and innovation. Hammershi (1864-1916) inherited the fruits of Denmark's Golden Age that Kbke (1810-48) experienced first-hand. Though Kbke's works have rarely been seen outside Denmark, many Danes consider him to be their greatest artist. His paintings, which utilize a rich but muted palette, convey a sense of intimacy that strikes the viewer as quintessentially Scandinavian. Kbke's luminous style was greatly admired as being in the spirit of Biedermeier. But in his lyrical work, Schwartz is quick to point out that the artistic dimensions are much more complex. This same attention to nuance is apparent in Vad's study of Hammershi. Every aspect of the painter's life is examined, including his training, techniques, friendships, and inspirations and his relationship with the influential patron, Alfred Bramsen. The wealth of information provided is impressive; indeed, many better-known artists still have not received such scholarly treatment. Both books are appropriate for research libraries and public collections serving communities interested in Scandinavian culture.
- Paula A. Baxter, NYPL
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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