Hvile
Vilhelm Hammershoi
(1864 -
1916)
Artwork not currently exhibited in the museum
A descendent of Vermeer or a forerunner of Hopper? Hammershøi, a Danish painter who made his reputation in the 1880s, is without doubt neither. The minimalist intimisme of his interiors and the disturbing atmosphere that emanates from his apparently rigorous approach are sufficient proof of that.
Hammershøi most probably invented the back portrait, as opposed to the existing full-face or side portraits. This seated woman—we cannot tell whether she is a maid or a member of the bourgeoisie, or even guess what she is doing—is intriguing because of her displyed indifference to the spectator. The silent figure has been brushed in a refined range of greys and browns, showing the artist's deep sensitivity to indoor atmospheres.
The composition is a series of right angles: the lines of the chair, the skirting board and the sideboard divide this eulogy of absence into squares with a sort of Protestant rigour. But it would be an error to jump to the conclusion that the painting is an allegory of solitude or human tragedy. Because the real subject is perhaps the nape of the neck, the most indecent part of the body to oriental minds. Just as the few unruly wisps of hair, the opening of the blouse which gives a glimpse of white skin, in counterpoint to the flower-shaped bowl laid on the sideboard, are radical antidotes to the temptation of a purely puritanical interpretation.
Hammershøi most probably invented the back portrait, as opposed to the existing full-face or side portraits. This seated woman—we cannot tell whether she is a maid or a member of the bourgeoisie, or even guess what she is doing—is intriguing because of her displyed indifference to the spectator. The silent figure has been brushed in a refined range of greys and browns, showing the artist's deep sensitivity to indoor atmospheres.
The composition is a series of right angles: the lines of the chair, the skirting board and the sideboard divide this eulogy of absence into squares with a sort of Protestant rigour. But it would be an error to jump to the conclusion that the painting is an allegory of solitude or human tragedy. Because the real subject is perhaps the nape of the neck, the most indecent part of the body to oriental minds. Just as the few unruly wisps of hair, the opening of the blouse which gives a glimpse of white skin, in counterpoint to the flower-shaped bowl laid on the sideboard, are radical antidotes to the temptation of a purely puritanical interpretation.
Artist(s)
Title(s)
titre principal : Hvile
autre titre : Repos
titre principal : Hvile
autre titre : Repos
Date
1905
Others accession number
Accession number
RF 1996 12
Description
huile sur toile
Dimensions
H. 49,5 ; L. 46,5 cm.
Cadre : H. 67.5 ; L. 63.5 cm
Cadre : H. 67.5 ; L. 63.5 cm
Designation
tableau
Place of conservation
musée d'Orsay
- collection Alfred Bramsen (1851-1932)
- collection Benny Dessau (1868-1937), grand-père du vendeur
- 1996, achat avec participation de Philippe Meyer par les Musées nationaux (comité du 22/05/1996, conseil du 03/07/1996, arrêté du 11/07/1996)
- 1996, attribué au musée d'Orsay, Paris
Modality of acquisition
achat avec participation
Acquistion Date
1996
- Vilhelm Hammershoi - galerie Eduard Schulte - Allemagne, Berlin, 1905, n°53
- A Selection of Works by Danish Painters - Guidhall - Royaume-Uni, Londres, 1907, n°131
- Den frie Udstilling - organisme inconnu - Danemark, Copenhague, 1908, n°79
- Esposizione internazionale d'arte - Vigna Cartoni - Italie, Rome, 1911, n°32
- Baltsika Utsällningen - organisme inconnu - Suède, Malmö, 1914, n°2361
- Udvalg af Vilhelm Hammershoi Arbejder - Kunstforeningen - Danemark, Copenhague, 1930, n°24
- Vilhelm Hammershoi, painter of stillness and light - Wildenstein & Co - Etats-Unis, New York, 1983, n°66
- Vilhelm Hammershoi, painter of stillness and light - The Phillips Collection - Etats-Unis, Washington, 1983, n°66
- De l'Impressionnisme à l'Art Nouveau, acquisitions du musée d'Orsay 1990-1996 - musée d'Orsay - France, Paris, 1996-1997, p. 21
- Rêve et réalité - Collections du Musée d'Orsay - City museum - Japon, Kobe, 1999
- Rêve et réalité. Collections du Musée d'Orsay - National Museum of Western Art - Japon, Tokyo, 1999
- Vilhelm Hammershoi - Hamburger Kunsthalle - Allemagne, Hambourg, 2003, n°36
- Impressions du Nord. La peinture scandinave 1800-1915 - fondation de l'Hermitage - Suisse, Lausanne, 2005, p. 86, n°32
- Hammershoi>Dreyer. Billedmagi - Ordrupgaard - Danemark, Copenhague, 2006-2007
- De Millet à Bonnard. La création picturale dans les collections du musée d'Orsay (1848-1914) - Hangaram Art Museum - Corée, République de, Séoul, 2007
- Vilhelm Hammershoi : The Poetry of Silence - Royal Academy of Arts - Royaume-Uni, Londres, 2008, n° 45
- Masterpieces from Paris : Van Gogh, Gauguin Cezanne & beyond : Postimpressionism from the musée d'Orsay - National Gallery of Australia - Australie, Canberra, 2009-2010, cat.89, p.244-245
- Masterpieces from Paris : Van Gogh, Gauguin Cezanne & beyond : Postimpressionism from the musée d'Orsay - National Art Center - Japon, Tokyo, 2010, cat.89, p.244-245
- Post-impressionnisme - 115 chefs-d'oeuvre de la collection du musée d'Orsay - National Art Center - Japon, Tokyo, 2010, cat. n°103, p.190, reprod.
- Masterpieces from Paris : Van Gogh, Gauguin Cezanne & beyond : Postimpressionism from the musée d'Orsay - M. H. De Young Memorial Museum - Etats-Unis, San Francisco, 2010-2011, cat.89, p.244-245
- La Rivoluzione dello sguardo. Capolavori impressionisti e post-impressionisti dal Musée d'Orsay - Museo d'Arte Moderna e Contemporanea di Trento e Rovereto - Italie, Rovereto, 2011
- Hammershøi und Europa – Ein dänischer Künstler um 1900 - Statens museum for Kunst - Danemark, Copenhague, 2012, n° 66, p. 89
- Hammershøi und Europa – Ein dänischer Künstler um 1900 - Kunsthalle der Hypo-Kulturstiftung - Allemagne, Munich, 2012, n° 66, p. 89
- Musée d'Orsay. Capolavori - Complesso del Vittoriano - Italie, Rome, 2014
- Hammershoi - Amos Anderson Art Museum - Finlande, Helsinki, 2015, p. 146 (reprod. coul.)
General bibliography
-
Ritter, W., L'Art et les artistes, "La Peinture en Danemark. Vilhelm Hammershoi", Paris, [s.n.], 1910, N°60, p.266 (mars 1910)
-
Bramsen, Alfred ; Michaëlis, Sophus, Vilhelm Hammershoi. Kunstneren og hans waerk, Copenhague, [s.n.], 1918, p.60-61, 63, 65, 68
-
Vad, Poul, Vilhelm Hammershoi and Danish Art at the Turn of the Century, Londres, Yale University Press, 1992, p.209-211
-
Anonyme, La Lettre des musées de France, "Acquisition pour le Musée d'Orsay d'une oeuvre de Vilhelm Hammershoi, Repos (1905)", Paris, Réunion des musées nationaux, 1997, N°70, p.2
-
Des Cars, Laurence, 48/14 La revue du Musée d'Orsay, "Nouvelles acquisitions", Paris, Réunion des musées nationaux, 1997, p. 38-39
Exposition catalog
-
Loyrette, Henri [sous la direction de] ; Bascou, Marc, De l'Impressionnisme à l'Art nouveau : acquisitions du Musée d'Orsay, 1990-1996, cat. exp. (Paris, Musée d'Orsay, du 16 octobre 1996 au 5 janvier 1997), Paris, Réunion des musées nationaux, 1996, p.21
-
Mathieu, Caroline ; Bascou, Marc ; Takahashi, Akiya, Rêve et réalité : collections du Musée d'Orsay, cat. exp. (Kobé, Musée Municipal de Kobé, 19 juin-29 août, 1999, Musée National d'Art Occidental, Tokyo, 14 septembre-12 décembre, 1999), Kobé, Nihon Keizai Shimbun, 1999, n° 122
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Mathieu, Caroline ; Georgel, Chantal ; Lobstein, Dominique ; [et.al], De Millet à Bonnard : la création picturale dans les collections du Musée d'Orsay (1848-1914), cat.exp. (Séoul, 2007), Paris, Musée d'Orsay, 2007, p. 114
-
Cogeval, Guy ; Rey, Xavier ; Thomine-Berrada, Alice, Musée d'Orsay : Capolavori, cat. exp. (Rome, Complesso del Vittoriano, du 22 février au 8 juin 2014), Paris, Skira, 2014, cat. 43, p. 127 ; pp. 138-139 (reprod. coul.)
-
Champion ; Jean-Loup ; Curie, Pierre ; Claustrat, Frank ; Saabye, Marianne, Hammershoi : le maître de la peinture danoise, cat. exp. (Paris, musée Jacquemart-André, du 14 mars 2019 au 22 juillet 2019), Bruxelles, Fonds Mercator, 2019, cat. 41, p. 8 (reprod. coul.) ; p. 140 ; p. 150 ; p. 151 (reprod. coul.) ; p. 171
-
Lukasiewicz, Martyna, Vilhelm Hammershoi - Light and silence, cat. exp. (Poznań, Muzeum narodowe, du 21/11/2021 au 23/01/2022, Krakowie, Muzeum narodowe, du 04/03/20222 au 08/05/2022), Poznan, Muzeum Narodow, 2021, pp. 66 - 67 ; p. 75 ; p. 158 (reprod. coul.)
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