Vilhelm Hammershøi: Silence

Defying categorization, the timeless paintings of nineteenth-century Danish master Vilhelm Hammershøi visually bridge the art of the Old Masters with that of the modern era. His remarkably modernist sensibility continues to capture the imaginations of contemporary audiences around the globe, with major international retrospectives and exhibitions on view over the last twenty years from London to Tokyo. Accompanying the inaugural exhibition of Hauser & Wirth’s new Basel gallery––the first ever solo show of Hammershøi’s work in Switzerland––Silence offers an in-depth understanding of Hammershøi’s highly individual artistic language, encapsulated in eighteen works, all from private collections and some rarely exhibited before.


Bringing together the interior paintings for which Hammershøi is best known with farmstead paintings, cityscapes, and a rare self-portrait, Silence demonstrates the breadth and depth of the artist’s practice. The works’ quiet yet radical originality positions the artist as a powerful precursor to the modern masters who were to come. With illuminating essays by Felix Krämer, the exhibition’s curator and a leading expert on Hammershøi, and Florian Illies, art historian and bestselling author of 'Love in a Time of Hate' and '1913: The Year Before the Storm', Silence is an essential resource on the celebrated painter.