A Study Of Vilham Hammershoi’s Paintings

Vilham Hammershoi was one of the most prominent Danish artists of the late 19 th and early 20 th centuries,and while his works today seem gentle and serene,lyrical "poems of silence," in his day this silence was provocative and controversial.Hammershoi belonged to no group and maintained his independence,and his work upset not only the academy but even his friends.No one knew where to put him because he didn’t fit the artistic standards of his time.Since the 1980 s,his work has been rediscovered and reappraised in Denmark and around the world.Over the past 30 years,a series of retrospectives in Europe,North America and Japan have cemented him on an equal footing with all the other great artists of the era.Loneliness,isolation and alienation,the main qualities of his work,appeal to a large contemporary audience.Hammershoi has long been regarded as the true individualist in Danish art,a monumental figure among his contemporaries,unmatched both in Denmark and internationally.The purpose of this article is to place Hammershoi’s artistic creation in its international context,to compare it with other artists of his time in terms of themes and forms,and to focus on analyzing the unique expression of "non-narrative" in Hammershoi’s works.The article is divided into three parts.The first part introduces Hammershoi’s artistic life and historical background,and analyzes the formation and evolution of the artist’s creative style.The second part discusses the non-narrative way of expression in the artist’s works.The third part focuses on themes such as empty room,lonely figure and deserted landscape,and studies how artists express the sense of alienation through the selection of elements in the picture.Hammershoi’s works reflect the inheritance of traditional art and his cautious attitude towards modern art.In the post-Impressionist and symbolist painting era,he did not place himself in any genre,but drew nourishment from traditional art,starting from classical painting.He has found his own unique expression and aesthetic taste in traditional portraits and indoor genre paintings.Compared with works of the same theme,the restrained color and concise composition make the audience focus on the content,while Hammershoi abandons the plot and narrative,pays more attention to his own emotional experience,and retains the most essential form of expression in the painting.