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Lot Essay
The present painting depicts Hammershøi's sister Anna, who was two years his junior. It is one of the earliest known paintings by the artist of a figure viewed from behind, one of his most highly esteemed trademark motifs. Indeed, the present work, despite its simplicity, contains most of the elements for which the artist is famed, and which he never tired of perfecting.
Hammershøi has stripped down the Danish tradition of depicting the rituals of domestic home life -- already established by artists such as Viggo Johnasen and Anna Ancher -- to a few bare essentials such as table, chair, a white wall and tablecloth, depicted in variations of white, gray and black. These elements combine to create an extraordinary and haunting sense of absence. Comparing the present work to another variant, in which the artist has also included his mother (fig. 1), P. Vad writes: "It is precisely the absence of detail which makes the preliminary study of the girl pouring tea a superior picture, containing in abundance that suggestive sensuality which was to characterize Hammershøi's subsequent depictions of a woman seen from behind." (op. cit., p. 27).
There is a third variant of this composition (fig. 2), in which Hammershøi depicts only Anna's head and shoulders.
Hammershøi has stripped down the Danish tradition of depicting the rituals of domestic home life -- already established by artists such as Viggo Johnasen and Anna Ancher -- to a few bare essentials such as table, chair, a white wall and tablecloth, depicted in variations of white, gray and black. These elements combine to create an extraordinary and haunting sense of absence. Comparing the present work to another variant, in which the artist has also included his mother (fig. 1), P. Vad writes: "It is precisely the absence of detail which makes the preliminary study of the girl pouring tea a superior picture, containing in abundance that suggestive sensuality which was to characterize Hammershøi's subsequent depictions of a woman seen from behind." (op. cit., p. 27).
There is a third variant of this composition (fig. 2), in which Hammershøi depicts only Anna's head and shoulders.