On my journey through the Musée d´Orsay this July I stopped by this painting by the Danish artist Vilhelm Hammershøi. I looked at it for quite some time, as I enjoyed its quietness, minimalism and the unsaid. It reminded me of a American-Norwegian artist I had discovered some time ago called Ida Lorentzen. I am very fond of her work. When I got home and did some research on them both, I discovered that Vilhelm Hammershøi, who lived from 1864-1916, ofcourse is the main inspiration of Ida Lorentzen (born 1951). She describes her first experience of his art like this: “When I first saw the art of Hammershøi, I felt like i had come home”.

Look at some of the paintings by Hammershøi HERE

Look at some of the paintings by Lorentzen HERE

In both their work I see silence, not a dull silence of nothingness, but a silence of past events, of atmosphere. I feel like the objects in the paintings are witnesses unable to speak their story, but able nevertheless, because of the thoughts they put in our minds to what might have occurred in the room that they are placed in. A room without people also has a loneliness to it I think, an anticipation and a tension. As if it´s only really there when someone uses it. In a way that is the way we perceive rooms in our everyday life. In our mind it really just exists when we are in it, and is rarely on our minds when we are not. A big difference between Hammershøi and Lorentzen work I think is that many of her rooms seem like they are constructed, not viewed and “copied” as in his. Therefor I think that Lorentzen brings to mind a more mystical and dreamy sensation. The calm of the rooms feels soothing yet disturbing, because of the questions and curiosity that emerges.

The painting above is from Strandgade 30, which is Vilhelm Hammershøis´ home address in Copenhagen. His home is the motif of many of his paintings.

Underneath is Interiør fra Nyfossum, 2002 by Ida Lorentzen.

Biography of Vilhelm Hammershøi