Vilhelm Hammershøi

Ida Hammershøi, the artist's wife
Anna Hammershøi, the artist's sister
Peter Olufsen & Kamma Ilsted (a gift from the above. Kamma was a daughter of painter Peder Ilsted, and the niece of Ida Hammershøi, née Ilsted; see fig. 1); thence by descent to the present owner, their grandchild

Copenhagen, Ordrupgaard, Vilhelm Hammershøi, 1981, no. 128, illustrated in the catalogue
New York, Wildenstein; Washington, The Phillips Collection, Vilhelm Hammershøi, 1983, no. 73

Alfred Bramsen and Sophus Michaëlis, Vilhelm Hammershøi. Kunstneren og hans vaerk, Copenhagen and Christiania, 1918, p. 112, no. 366, catalogued
Poul Vad, Hammershøi. Værk og liv, Copenhagen, 1988, p. 343, illustrated (as Interiør med windsorstol. Strandgade 25)

The following condition report has been provided by Hamish Dewar Ltd, 13 & 14 Mason's Yard, London SW1Y 6BU: UNCONDITIONAL AND WITHOUT PREJUDICE Structural Condition The canvas has been lined onto the original keyed wooden stretcher and this is ensuring an even and secure structural support. Paint surface The paint surface has a reasonably even varnish layer and only very small, scattered retouchings are visible under ultra-violet light. There are small retouchings around the framing edges, a thin vertical line on the open door which is approximately 4 cm in length and a similar thin vertical line in the pale pigments behind the chair in the centre of the composition. There are other very small spots of inpainting. Summary The painting would therefore appear to be in good and stable condition and no further work is required.
"This lot is offered for sale subject to Sotheby's Conditions of Business, which are available on request and printed in Sotheby's sale catalogues. The independent reports contained in this document are provided for prospective bidders' information only and without warranty by Sotheby's or the Seller."

After living for eleven years at Strandgade 30, Vilhelm and Ida Hammershøi were forced to leave their apartment when the owner sold the dilapidated building in 1909. Following two interim moves, they found a suitable home in November 1912, again in Strandgade, but this time on the first floor of the building formerly occupied by the Asiatic Company. The apartment had much in common with their former home just across the street. Ida wrote to her mother-in-law: 'Now I must tell you that Vilhelm has taken the apartment in the Asiatic Company. He has signed the lease and sent it off. And he is immensely happy about it. It is expensive, but he thinks that it will be profitable anyway for him to live in a place where he can paint, and it is a good apartment' (letter of 30 November 1912, quoted in Poul Vad, Vilhelm Hammershøi, 1988, p. 332).

With a similar enfilade of interconnecting rooms, and decorated in neutral greys and whites, the new premises provided the backdrop for a series of evocative interiors, with and without Ida. Painted in 1913, the present work is devoid of all props save for a lone Windsor chair, which denotes both absence and presence: for although unoccupied, as the only object to punctuate the silent space it assumes an almost anthropomorphic quality. The same chair re-appears in The Four Rooms (Ordrupgaard Museum; fig.1) painted the following year. Despite his comparatively free brushstroke, Hammershøi’s attention to the play of light and shadow in Interior with Windsor Chair, and the reflection of light off surfaces, notably the edge of the door, is as subtle and masterful as ever.