It is always exciting to go to the “RA” it encapsulates a certain history, that gives everything that it shows a sort of credence. It has never let me down, and this show did not disappoint. Hammershoi (15 May 1864 – 13 February 1916) is a Dutch painter who’s
oeuvre covers the traditional genres of that period, (interiors, portraits, figure paintings, landscapes and architectural pictures) yet he brings to these subjects a distinctively modern sensibility, which can be seen in the pale monochromatic surfaces, his tendency toward abstraction, and the sometimes unreal light which are painted in his trademark muted palette. You can just imagine this quiet loner painting to his hearts content. He was a very well traveled man, ( with the greatest number of trips being to London) however when in his native Copenhagen hardly left his house. This is probably why the interiors are so haunting.

The first striking factor is that for a weekday in the early afternoon the gallery is rammed full. Geriatrics everywhere! So when they have toddled off I take a closer look.
There is great use of a very simplistic palate. His use of pale colours just
emboldens the grey structure of the picture. This is corralled by the very
directed brushstrokes painstakingly dedicated to illuminate the framework of
the room. He depicts his home and its contents as if it were an assemblage or a
still life. It is the silent rooms that are precisely his subjects.

The absolute corker of the whole show has to be the interior of the great hall in Lindegarden. The first aspect that you are drawn into is the portrayal of the dramatic ceiling. The detailing like fine doily covers the ceiling and pushes your eye through the
painting. Towards the far wall where pensively there are two doors. One open
one closed, some quite simple symbolism there to make the point, but altogether
not that necessary. I am already in love with this painting, in its descriptive
starkness. The wall contains a domed alcove that typifys the grandure of the
whole space but seems so incongruent to this sparse documentation of empty
floor boards. Why is this alcove so empty? Why are the owners not there to
lounge in this once glorious abode? The narratives are endless, that is why
this painting becomes so interesting for me. However there are less interesting
aspects of the show the landscapes and buildings leave a little to be desired
in comparison. They are too cut and dried. The ‘ghost town’ look doesn’t read
as well on large scales. I am not drawn into the paintings immaculate details
because I know that there aren’t any to look for. They are too expansive.

Hammershoi’s has obviously been a great influence on many contemporary painters, an obvious example is Luc Tuymans. However he is quite modern in his creation of artwork, he creates variations on a single theme, much like his contemporary Morandi. In the suite of paintings depicting his apartment in the Strandgade, for example, he
repeatedly shows half-empty rooms with their meager surroundings, a chair, a
few pictures on the walls, a fine porcelain bowl and that’s all. Hammershoi doesn’t have the same clunkyness that Morandi achieves, but he doesn’t want to he still wants to achieve that classical architectural style that Canaletto produced and that the cannon revolves around. Far less attention has been given to his distinctive landscapes and monumental architectural pictures, both strangely emptied of the presence of people, with an oddly unreal, Alice in wonderland character.