Madrid's Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum presents over 100 works by Danish painter Vilhelm Hammershøi

The Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza in Madrid is hosting "Hammershøi. L’œil qui écoute," a major retrospective of Danish artist Vilhelm Hammershøi (1864–1916) until May 31. Featuring more than 100 pieces, the exhibition marks his first large-scale show in Spain. Hammershøi, known for his subdued palette of whites, grays, and blacks, created interiors, landscapes, and portraits that evoke silence and stillness, deliberately avoiding contemporary movements like Symbolism and Cubism. The thematic display includes early works such as the 1890 painting "Été à Falster," portraits like "Le violoncelliste. Portrait of Henry Bramsen" (1893), and intimate scenes of his wife Ida Ilsted, his frequent model. His Copenhagen apartment on Strandgade in Christianhavn appears in over 60 paintings, with highlights like "Rayons de soleil" (1900) capturing light patterns on floors. Despite falling into obscurity after his death, Hammershøi's work regained prominence from the 1980s onward, with past exhibitions at the Musée d'Orsay (1997–1998) and the Musée Jacquemart-André (2019). The Madrid show concludes with late nudes and self-portraits from 1908–1911, created before his death from throat cancer.