Films
Unconscious Gestures
The rediscovery of Vilhelm Hammershøi
On the occasion of the exhibition “Vilhelm Hammershøi. Silence,” on view at Hauser & Wirth Basel, Ursula presents a new documentary film on the quiet world of Hammershøi's paintings, which reveal more than they tell, offering the patient viewer a cosmos of domestic and emotional interiors.
Featuring Gertrud Oelsner, Carlo Knöll, Felix Krämer and Florian Illies.
“If you look at his works, there’s no tone. There’s no noise. There’s no action. The world comes to stand still. Even the landscapes. There are no birds flying, there’s no movement. It’s quiet.”—Felix Krämer
“White is not just white in a Hammershøi painting. Sometimes there are up to fifty different shades of white in one painting…he used a lot of stronger colors too, beneath all those white and grey and black strokes. But in the final works you can’t really see it…they’re underneath. So he’s a colorist in black and white.”—Gertrud Oelsner
Interior of the Great Hall in Lindegaarden, 1909. Oil on canvas
Interior with the Artist’s Wife, Seen from Behind, 1901. Oil on canvas. Photo: Annik Wetter
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“Vilhelm Hammershøi. Silence” is on view at Hauser & Wirth Basel through July 13, 2024.
Vilhelm Hammershøi: Silence is available to purchase from Hauser & Wirth Publishers.