Portræt af Alfred Bramsen, profil m.v. 1911

This is a drawing by Vilhelm Hammershøi, probably made in 1911, of Alfred Bramsen. Look at the soft graphite, smudged and layered to create tone and form! It’s a very hushed, quiet portrait. Hammershøi's known for his interiors, so it's interesting to see him turn his gaze towards a person. I wonder what it was like for him, usually painting rooms, to focus on a face. There's something melancholic about the sitter. What was Hammershøi thinking as he drew? Was he trying to capture not just a likeness, but something deeper, a mood, an atmosphere? It reminds me of Whistler, that same sense of muted elegance and restraint. We artists, we're always looking, always borrowing, always trying to find our own voice in the echo chamber of art history.