Born in Copenhagen, Hammershøi studied from 1879 to 1884 at Copenhagen's Royal Academy of Fine Arts. In 1883 he also enrolled at the Artist's Study School where he was able to supplement his academic training by painting plein-air studies. His early work was influenced by James McNeill Whistler. In 1885 he made his debut in Copenhagen's annual Charlottenborg exhibition, but in 1888 his works were rejected, and two years later he and five other artists formed an independent group called Den Frie.
He painted portraits and landscapes, but is best known for the interiors he painted of his house at Strandgade 30 in Copenhagen.
Vilhelm Hammershøi
1864 - 1916
