Vilhelm Hammershoi "Hvile, also called Rest"
Image from Google Images
As soon as I saw this painting it grabbed my attention, it isn’t like all the other portraits in the Masters of Paris exhibition, the subject isn’t facing the viewer. I love the lines and light in this painting by Vilhelm Hammershoi [who has been called the inventor of the back portrait.]. This painting made me feel “comfortable” It felt “homely” most probably because of the grey and brown paint used and the lighting of the painting, when I look at this painting I imagine it was a very quiet Sunday afternoon, I like to think she could be sewing or reading. For a basic painting it has a lot of detail when you look closer, like the white vase on the table to the right of the sitter and the creases of the pleat on the shirt down the spine, its simplistic and beautiful all at the same time.
