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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 at the centre.

In dialogue with international movements of his time, Hammershøi developed a distinctive visual language. His affinity with James McNeill Whistler is evident in his reduced compositions and focus on formal aspects. At the same time, his work appears strikingly modern and invites comparisons with artists such as Giorgio Morandi. Another dimension emerges through his relationship to music: instruments such as the cello or piano appear in his paintings, which 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 in collaboration with the Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid.

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

“I do not paint what I see, but what I perceive.”

– Vilhelm Hammershøi

Gallery

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Vilhelm Hammershøi, Private collection, Photo: Bruno Lopes
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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, Charlottenlund Photo: Anders Sune Berg

Programme

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Eröffnung «Vilhelm Hammershøi. Maler des stillen Klangs»

Exklusive Vorbesichtigung der Ausstellung für Mitglieder
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Vilhelm Hammershøi. Maler des stillen Klangs

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Free Places: 26
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Ill.: VVilhelm Hammershøi, Interior with Woman at Piano, Strandgade 30, 1901, Private collection, Photo: Bruno Lopes