Portrait of Vilhelm Hammershøi

Vilhelm Hammershøi|Peter Ilsted

1900 · Etching · Drawings and Prints

This portrait follows the common Danish practice of depicting artists from the chest up against an almost blank ground. Expertly wielding the etching needle, Ilsted created a convincing portrayal of the unruly long hair, goatee, and beard Hammershøi favored later in life. This image echoes the stiff, formal profile pose the artist assumed in a photograph from about the same time. The print, rich in chiaroscuro, shows Hammershøi looking off evasively into the distance with his eyes half-open, suggesting someone lost in his own elusive thoughts.

Artist

Vilhelm Hammershøi|Peter Ilsted

Date

1900

Medium

Etching

Department

Drawings and Prints

Credit line

The Elisha Whittelsey Collection, The Elisha Whittelsey Fund, 2016