Interior with Young Woman Seen from the Back

Vilhelm Hammershøi painted the same three rooms of his apartment at Strandgade 30, Copenhagen, for two decades. Almost always the same view: a doorway, a table, a shaft of grey Copenhagen light, and — with her back to us — his wife Ida. She never turns around. Hammershøi painted around 60 interiors like this. He removed most of the furniture from his apartment when he moved in because he couldn't paint if there was too much stuff in the room. He died in 1916 at 51. Ida gave the paintings away one by one. She never posed for anyone else. Now at Randers Kunstmuseum, Randers @randerskunstmuseum