Frameless Hammershøis at SMK

I understand the important protection and handling convenience frames provide. And I get why it’s cringe to call it rawdawging, but I have stayed wanting more art without frames.

A couple of months back, after that frameless Da Messina situation, Claudio Santambrogio sent along a link to a fascinating semi-frameless show I’d completely missed at SMK in Copenhagen. There I Belong. Hammershøi by Elmgreen & Dragset was a group show of Vilhelm Hammershøi paintings along contemporary artists curated by Michael Elmgreen and Ingar Dragset in 2019. The duo highlighted the ominous feelings of Hammershøi’s interiors and the sense of foreboding they could engender.

on the grey wall of the royal art museum in copenhagen, a small framed photo of an open door in a german house hangs equidistant from a small frameless painting of a 19th century danish interior, also with an open door, and the gallery's own doorway. taken in 2019 by inge pollet
Three doorways: Installation shot of Hammershøi and Ruff in There I Belong, 2019, at SMK, photo: Inge Pollet

One particular pairing jumped out—actually, that’s too energetic, maybe it bubbled over: a 1980 Thomas Ruff Interieur photo of a door and Hammershøi’s 1888 painting, Interior, The Old Stove. Albertinelyst, which is also largely about a door. Hammershøi gets called serene and austere, but Elmgreen & Dragset’s sense of an unwelcoming stillness is also correct. When I think about hygge, it is now not this.

a brightly lit photo of an empty open doorway in a traditional european home, that happens to be the artist thomas ruff's house in dusseldorf. the door and frame are white, the wall cream, the floor very dark stained wood. a wide matte and thin maple wood frame surround the photo, via david zwirner
Thomas Ruff, Interieur 8C, 1980, C-print, 10 7/8 x 8 1/8 in., Framed: 18 1/2 x 22 1/2 in., Ed. 20, 5 AP, via David Zwirner 
an 1888 painting in a range of naturally lit whites on the walls and open doorway, and dark browns on the wood floor, and even darker paint on the tiered porcelain stove in the corner of this austere empty danish room painted by vilhelm hammershoi
Wilhelm Hammershøi, Interior, The Old Stove. Albertinelyst, 1888, oil on canvas, 61.6 cm x 51.5 cm, collection SMK, image: creative commons

I have to think that showing the paintings naked, without frames, only heightened the unease. Except the image above, also frameless, came from SMK’s incredible Wilhelm Hammershøi Digital Archive. The VIHDA is the culmination of a five-year research initiative into the methods, materials, and construction of over 130 Hammershøi works. Every painting is photographed frameless, naked as the day it was made. And then, in addition to digital scans, there’s a whole range of technical images for each work, too; the dawgs have never been so raw.

There I Belong. Hammershøi by Elmgreen & Dragset, 27 April – 1 September 2019 [smk.dk]
The Vilhelm Hammershøi Digital Archive [smk.dk]
[Thanks to the SMK press office for their kind assistance with details about the exhibition.]