Beschreibung:

Vilhelm Hammershøi (b. Copenhagen 1864, d. s.p. 1916) Portrait of the painter Carl Holsøe (1863–1935). 1901. Study for “Fem Portrætter” (The Thiel Gallery, Stockholm). Unsigned. Oil on canvas. 44×37 cm. Kursiv: Alfred Bramsen, A Catalogue Raisonné of the Works of Vilhelm Hammershøi “Vilhelm Hammershøi. Kunstneren og hans værk”, 1918, no. 222 with the following title and the description (in Danish): “Portrait head. The painter Carl Holsøe 37 years old. Natural size. En face. Study for” Five Portraits“. The head is thrown back because he is half lying with his legs on a chair”, reproduced. Susanne Meyer-Abich, A Catalogue Raisonnè of the Works of Vilhelm Hammershøi in “Vilhelm Hammershøi: Das Malerische Werk", 1995, no. 211. Exhibited: Galleri Eduard Schulte, “Vilhelm Hammershøi”, Berlin 1905 no. 39 (the exhibition continued to Cologne and Hamburg). Galerie E. J. van Wisseling & Co., “Vilhelm Hammershøi”, London 1907 no. 10. Den Frie Udstilling 1908 no. 73 or 74. Baltiska Utställningen, Malmø 1914 no. 2360. Kunstforeningen, “Fortegnelse over arbejder af Vilhelm Hammershøi”, 1916, 2. afd., no. 14. Liljevalch, Stockholm, “Nyare Dansk Konst”, 1919 no. 442. Ordrupgaard, “Vilhelm Hammershøi - en retrospektiv udstilling”, 1981 no. 79, reproduced p. 103. Wildenstein, New York and The Philips Collection, Washington, “Hammershøi. Painter of Stillness and Light”, 1983 no. 52, reproduced p. 65. Literature: Alfred Bramsen, “Weltkunst. Der Dänische Maler Vilhelm Hammershöi”, in “Zeitschrift für bildende Kunst”, Jahrg. 16, Leipzig 1905, p. 180. Poul Vad, “Hammershøi. Værk og Liv”, 1988, mentioned and reproduced p. 221. Provenance: Alfred Bramsen. His daughter, the violinist Karen Falck and her husband Museum Director Gustav Falck. The collection of Karen Falck, Bruun Rasmussen auction 267, 1971 no. 9. Here acquired by the present owner's family. The final version of the painting “Five portraits” from 1901–1902 is one of Vilhelm Hammershøi's most famous works and at the same time his largest and most monumental piece – measuring 190×340 centimetres. It depicts five important people in Hammershøi's circle of friends: the architect and ornamental artist Thorvald Bindesbøll his brother Svend Hammershøi the art historian Karl Madsen, the painter Jens Ferdinand Willumsen and on the far right the painter Carl Holsøe They are all sitting around a table. It is a very monumental, dark and mysterious group portrait with references to art history such as the Dutch group portraits from the 17th century and to various older depictions of “The Last Supper”. Poul Vad compares the painting to C.W. Eckersberg's altarpiece with “The Last Supper” from 1840 in Frederiksberg Church. Carl Holsøe was Hammershøi's close friend, fellow student and painter colleague. Their friendship was established while they both studied under P.S. Krøyer at Kunstnernes Frie Studieskoler (The Free School of Study for Artists) during the 1880s. Holsøe was greatly inspired by Hammershøi and also painted interiors - often with women who had their backs turned to the viewer. When Hammershøi died in 1916, Carl Holsøe was one of several close friends and artists who were chosen as pallbearers at Hammershøi’s funeral. The present portrait is most likely one of the last studies for “Five Portraits” since Holsøe's appearance here is very similar to the one he has in the final painting. The right side of his face is brightly lit, and the other side is almost shrouded in darkness – an example of the lighting magic of the finished painting, as Vad describes it, where two tall candles on the table illuminate Holsøe's face from the right side. The slightly offset tilt of the portrait might have seemed a little strange if it were just a plain symmetrical “en face” portrait, but here it makes perfect sense when one knows that it is a man sitting, almost provocatively informal, reclined in his chair with his hands in his pockets and his legs placed on a chair s
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