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Self-Portrait at Spurveskjul

1911
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 829
This is one of a group of self-portraits that Hammershøi painted in 1911 while staying at Spurveskjul (Sparrow’s Hideaway), his rented summer home near Copenhagen. By showing his left hand raised as if painting, the right-handed artist makes plain that he created his self-portrait by observing his reflection in a mirror. Behind him are a sunlit door and window, motifs that defined Hammershøi’s celebrated interior scenes. The reworked contours of the figure and the mauve underpaint visible in the face attest to the experimental spirit and bold handling that he cultivated in his late self-portraits.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Self-Portrait at Spurveskjul
  • Artist: Vilhelm Hammershøi (Danish, Copenhagen 1864–1916 Copenhagen)
  • Date: 1911
  • Medium: Oil on canvas
  • Dimensions: 35 1/2 × 39 3/8 in. (90 × 100 cm)
  • Classification: Paintings
  • Credit Line: Gift of Charles Hack and the Hearn Family Trust, in honor of Keith Christiansen, and in celebration of the Museum's 150th Anniversary, 2020
  • Object Number: 2020.287
  • Curatorial Department: European Paintings

More Artwork

More Artwork
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Figure Reading at a Table in an Interior at Night, Vilhelm Hammershøi Danish, Fabricated black and red chalk
Figure Reading at a Table in an Interior at Night
Vilhelm Hammershøi
ca. 1891
Slender Trees on a Hill, Vilhelm Hammershøi Danish, Graphite, incised for transfer; verso: made black with graphite, chalk or charcoal
Slender Trees on a Hill
Vilhelm Hammershøi
1896 or later
Moonlight, Strandgade 30, Vilhelm Hammershøi Danish, Oil on canvas
Moonlight, Strandgade 30
Vilhelm Hammershøi
1900–1906
The Repast of the Lion, Henri Rousseau (le Douanier) French, Oil on canvas
The Repast of the Lion
Henri Rousseau (le Douanier)
ca. 1907
Vase of Flowers (Pink Background), Odilon Redon French, Oil on canvas
Vase of Flowers (Pink Background)
Odilon Redon
ca. 1906

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