While I was away–I traveled to Jordan from Oct. 31 to Nov. 12, more about which another time–a lot happened in the art world, including the New York fall auction season. But before I go there, I want to share my review of an excellent exhibition at Scandinavia House in NYC. The show is titled Painting Tranquility: Masterworks by Vilhelm Hammershøi from SMK– The National Gallery of Denmark.  My review, published in The Wall Street Journal on Nov. 3, was headlined Mysteries of a Danish Painter in the print edition.
Hammershoi, as I wrote, was all about light and line, and:
Though he was clearly inspired by Dutch Golden Age artists—he has been called the Danish Vermeer—his works are quite different. With meticulous brush strokes, Hammershøi constructed atmosphere, ambiance, enigma, rather than real scenes or situations.
He’s probably not everyone’s painter, but I find Hammershoi easy to like. He makes most viewers think, wonder. I remember going to the monographic show of his work at the Guggenheim museum in 1998, and being intrigued. But his work is not well represented in American museums, at least the ones I frequent. Only occasionally have I seen a work of his for sale at auctions.
Interestingly, this show came about because the National Gallery of Denmark had planned a renovation. The timetable slowed down, and that won’t happen until next year, but the SMK honorably kept its lending promise.
Above is one of his small landscapes and below is one of his great interiors, both on view at Scandinavia House, which provided the pictures. Go, if you can.
