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The Eye That Listens

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Silent rooms, muted light and minimal shifts within the familiar: Kunsthaus Zürich presents the first comprehensive museum exhibition in Switzerland dedicated to Vilhelm Hammershøi. His paintings focus on perception, atmosphere and the subtle tensions between space and objects.

Vilhelm Hammershøi, Open Doors, 1905, The David Collection, B 309, Photo: Pernille Klemp

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Empty rooms, closed doors, figures seen from behind: Hammershøi’s paintings withdraw from narrative. Instead, they create concentration. Spaces appear both familiar and distant, light moves across walls, and objects assert a quiet presence.

His works are defined by subtle gradations of muted colours. Minimal variations in recurring motifs sharpen the viewer’s gaze and place perception itself at the centre.

In dialogue with international movements of his time, Hammershøi developed a distinctive visual language. His affinity with painters such as James McNeill Whistler is evident in his reduced compositions and focus on formal aspects. Another dimension emerges through his relationship to music: instruments such as the cello or piano appear in his paintings and engage our sense of hearing. For his works are not truly “silent” – rather, they convey a tense calm, like the moment just before a concert begins. Alongside the iconic interiors, the exhibition also presents portraits, cityscapes and landscapes, placing his work within a broader art-historical context.

An exhibition organised by the Kunsthaus Zürich in cooperation with the Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza in Madrid.

Supported by Albers & Co AG, Fondation Etrillard, International Music and Art Foundation, and three further foundations.

"One has the feeling that all he does is paint, and that this is all he is willing to do.”

– Rainer Maria Rilke about Vilhelm Hammershøi

Gallery

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Vilhelm Hammershøi, Interior with a Reading Woman, 1911, Nationalmuseum, Stockholm. Gift 1912 Nationalmusei Vänner Photo: Cecilia Heisser / Nationalmuseum
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Vilhelm Hammershøi, Sitting Room. Study in Sunlight, 1906, The David Collection, B 312, Photo: Pernille Klemp
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Vilhelm Hammershøi, Interior with the Artist‘s Wife, Seen from Behind, 1901, Private collection
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Vilhelm Hammershøi, Self-Portrait. The Cottage Spurveskjul at Sorgenfri, North of Copenhagen, 1911, SMK, National Gallery of Denmark, Copenhagen, Photo: Statens Museum for Kunst, open.smk.dk, public domain
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Vilhelm Hammershøi, Resting, 1905, Paris, musée d‘Orsay; Achat avec la participation de Philippe Meyer, 1996, Photo © GrandPalaisRmn (musée d‘Orsay) / Martine Beck-Coppola
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Vilhelm Hammershøi, The Tall Windows, 1913, Ordrupgaard, Copenhagen, Photo: Anders Sune Berg

Programme

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Eröffnung «Vilhelm Hammershøi. Maler des stillen Klangs»

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Vilhelm Hammershøi. Maler des stillen Klangs

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Ill.: Vilhelm Hammershøi, Interior with Woman at Piano, Strandgade 30, 1901, Private collection, Photo: Bruno Lopes