Updated 07 March 2025
On Display Permanent collection
On Display
Interior with Ida Playing the Piano
| Date | 1910 |
|---|---|
| Materials and Techniques | oil on canvas |
| Size（cm） | 76 x 61.5 |
| Inscriptions | Signed lower right with monogram: VH |
| Category | Paintings |
| Collection Number | P.2008-0003 |
Vilhelm Hammershøi, a leading late nineteenth-century Danish artist, often created works that depict his wife Ida seen from behind. The doors separating the rooms are swung open in our direction, inviting us to imagine the sound of Ida’s piano emerging from the background. Although Vermeer’s overall influence is unmistakable, the image’s sense of unreality distinguishes it from the intimate genre painting of seventeenth-century Holland. The print seen above Ida’s head withholds its subject matter, adding to the enigmatic quality of Hammershøi’s composition. (Source: Gallery label, October 2016)
Provenance
Mr. Alexander Maitland, Edinburgh; Admiral Sir Nigel and Lady Henderson; Swedish private collector; Purchased by the NMWA, 2008.
Exhibition History
- 2000
- Vilhelm Hammershøi, Nationalmuseum Stockholm, 18 February 2000 - 7 May 2000, （not included in the exhibiton catalogue）
- 2008
- Vilhelm Hammershøi, Royal Academy of Arts, London, 24 June 2008 - 7 September 2008, cat. no. 67, col. repr.
- 2014
- Voices Calling from the Unusual: Hirano Keiichiro's Selection of Western Art Masterpieces, National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo, 8 April 2014 - 15 June 2014, cat. no. 30
- 2020
- Vilhelm Hammershøi and Danish Painting of The 19th Century, Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum, 21 January 2020 - 26 March 2020, cat. no. 85
- 2023
- Interior Visions: From Bonnard to Tillmans and Contemporary Artists, Pola Museum of Art, 28 January 2023 - 2 July 2023, cat. no. 5, col. repr.
Bibliography
- 1918
- Michaëlis, Sophus; Bramsen, Alfred. Vilhelm Hammershøi: Kunstneren og hans voerk. København, 1918, p. 109, no. 336.
- 1992
- Vad, Poul. Vilhelm Hammershøi and Danish Art at the Turn of the Century. Tindall, Kenneth, trans. New Haven, Yale University Press, 1992, pp. 316, 335, 457, pl. 212.
- 2000
- Vilhelm Hammershøi (exh. cat.). Göteborgs Konstmuseum, Nationalmuseum Stockholm, 2000, pp. 140-143.
- 2008
- Hammershøi(exh.cat.). Krämer, Felix; Sato, Naoki; Fonsmark, Anne-Birgitte, eds. London/ [Paris], Royal Academy of Arts; Hazan, 2008, cat. no. 67, col. repr.
- 2010
- Annual bulletin of the National Museum of Western Art. No. 43(Apr. 2008-Mar. 2009), 2010, Naoki Sato. New Acquisitions. pp. 12-15, List of New Acquisitions. p. 45. repr.
- 2013
- Masterpieces: The National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo. Tokyo, The Western Art Foundation, 2013 (Japanese, preface in Japanese and English), no. 117, col. repr.
- 2020
- Vilhelm Hammershøi and Danish Painting of the 19th Century(exh. cat.). Tokyo, Yomiuri Shimbun, c2020, cat. no. 85, col. repr.
- 2023
- Interior Visions: From Bonnard to Tillmans and Contemporary Artists (exh.cat.). Kondo, moe; Kudo, Koji, eds. Tokyo, Kyuryudo, 2023, pp. 31, 132, 136, cat. no. 5, col. repr.