Hammershøi Exhibition in London

Bruun Rasmussen Auctioneers in Copenhagen presents a number of exquisite works by the world famous Danish artist Vilhelm Hammershøi (1864-1916) at the spring's international auction on 1 March 2016. Prior to the auction in Copenhagen, some of the offered works by Hammershøi and other important auction highlights will be exhibited at the Danish Embassy in London on 22 and 23 February.

"Hammershøi is one of the Danish artists, who has achieved the greatest international recognition, due to his evocative Nordic motifs in grey tones. However, he was not a very prolific artist, so his works are rarely seen on the auction market. It is therefore with great pleasure that we are able to present several works by Hammershøi at the upcoming international auction, where we can present both one of his well-known interiors, with a woman seen from the back, and an enigmatic portrait of his wife Ida, who was a model in many of the artist's works," says Frederik Bruun Rasmussen, director of international sales at Bruun Rasmussen Auctioneers and host at the Hammershøi exhibition in London.

International Recognition

Hammershøi achieved international success early on. Yet following his death in 1916, his works were slowly forgotten. He did, however, regain international recognition years later thanks to several exhibitions of his work in New York & Washington (1983), Ordrupgaard, Denmark, Musée d’Orsay, Paris & Guggenheim, New York (1997-98), Hamburger Kunsthalle (2003), Royal Academy of Arts, London & The National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo (2008).

In recent years, the National Gallery of Denmark has followed suit and presented a large Hammershøi exhibition in Copenhagen and Munich in 2012 and another exhibition in New York here in 2016. On 4 March 2016, the latest exhibition, “At Home with Hammershøi”, will open at the Danish museum Ordrupgaard, which focuses on the artist’s home at Strandgade 30 in Copenhagen. Hammershøi is certainly more present than ever on the international art scene.

Danish Art and Design in London

At our exhibition in London we have gathered several works by Hammershøi along side a number of works by Danish artists such as Carl Holsøe and Peter Ilsted, who worked in the same characteristic manner as Hammershøi. We also present important works by Asger Jorn and Per Kirkeby together with rare furniture design by Finn Juhl and Peder Moos.

A Brazilian rosewood stool by the most original and uncompromising Danish cabinetmaker Peder Moos (1906-1991) stands out. Like no one else, Moos was unparalleled in his ability to bring out the organic and spirited features of the wood.

The same year as Bruun Rasmussen Auctioneers was established in 1948, the unique stool by Moos was exhibited at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London at the exhibition “Danish Art Treasures Through the Ages”. The exhibition was curated and designed by the world famous Danish architect and professor Kaare Klint (1888-1954), who gathered the very best of Danish art and design from the past 1,000 years – collected from national museums and important private collections. In the postwar period it was a risky affair to ship the nation's most precious cultural treasures across the North Sea. In a monograph about Kaare Klint from 2010 by Gorm Harkær, the transportation of the national treasures is described as follows:

“Every effort was put into this ambitious exhibition, which after the end of World War II was willing to risk the still mine-filled waters between Denmark and Great Britain to demonstrate the Danish gratitude towards the Allied nation. Large parts of the Danish national treasure were shipped across the canal aboard two Navy ships, not without criticism of the plan as it proceeded, and not without concern."

Today the stool by Peder Moos returns to London to take part in another Danish exhibition of fine art and design 68 years after Klint’s historic exhibition. This time hosted by the third generation of Bruun Rasmussen Auctioneers.

Exhibition and Auction

Our exhibition takes place at The Royal Danish Embassy in London, 55 Sloane St. SW1X9SR, from 22nd – 23rd February 2016 from 10 am – 6 pm.

Private Preview: 22nd February at 6-8 pm. Welcoming remarks by HE The Ambassador of Denmark, Chamberlain, Claus Grube and Frederik Bruun Rasmussen. Guest speaker: MaryAnne Stevens, Art Historian and Curator of the Hammershøi exhibition at Royal Academy of Arts in London (2008).

Please note, that all of the exhibited works of art and design will be sold at our international auction at Bredgade 33 in Copenhagen between 1st -10th March.

Contact us

If you are interested in visiting the exhibition, please note that you need to register at the embassy for security reasons before 18th February to tradelonamb@um.dk.

If you need any press photos or are interested in an interview with one of our experts, please contact Press Manager Eva Helsted on tel. +45 8818 1072 / evh@bruun-rasmussen.dk.

Press Photos

Three works by Vilhelm Hammershøi:

- Interior with a woman seen from the back. Estimate: DKK 4-6 million / € 535,000-805,000.

- Portrait of the artist's wife, Ida, born Ilsted. Estimate: DKK 1-1.5 million / € 135,000-200,000.

- Landscape from the King’s road at Gentofte. Estimate: DKK 1 million / € 135,000.