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Master of interior space

Andrew Lambirth

Wednesday, 6th August 2008

Vilhelm Hammershoi: the Poetry of Silence
Royal Academy, until 7 September

And indeed it was. The actual paint-handling was looser in later years, but it is no less rigorously controlled. Hammershoi became the master of interior space, firmly articulated: a bookcase, some pictures usually hung low, a punchbowl, a sofa. Light is captured falling on a drawing-room wall. The mood is cool and analytical rather than golden and celebratory. When he turns his hand to landscape, the structure is relaxed somewhat. Especially fine examples are ‘View of Gentofte Lake. Sun shower’ (1903), ‘Landscape. Gentofte’ (1906) and ‘Young Oak Trees’ (1907). The buildings — some in London, painted on visits here — evince the same concentrated looking, an inexorable quality it’s easy to misread as melancholy.

For many people, I suspect this will be an ideal exhibition. The intensity of the work means you don’t have to look too closely or for too long to obtain a very clear idea of what Hammershoi was about. The images are memorable. The extent of the exhibition and the relatively packed nature of the walls (a sparer hang would have better served the work and the artist) reassures visitors that they’re not only getting their money’s worth but also a proper representation of the artist’s work. Equally, the number of canvases cuts down the amount of time that need be spent gazing on each individual image. For conditions are such in our museums today that lengthy contemplation — the sort of prolonged viewing that Hammershoi’s best paintings merit — is not encouraged, and visitors are prepared to be brief.

So here is an exhibition of reassuringly evident skill, that is also understated in a way designed to appeal to the English sensibility. (Why has it taken so long to mount a Hammershoi exhibition, given its potential popularity?) So, it’s a high-quality show you don’t have to linger over. Perfect. The satisfied visitor can rush round the gallery and then return to their high-octane lives with another cultural experience under their belts. But I’m afraid this doesn’t do Hammershoi justice. For that, you’ll have to hold up the traffic and withstand the sharp elbows of the elderly who are adept at getting right in front of pictures. But it could be worth it.