Vilhelm Hammershøi (1864–1916)
Portrait of Thora Bendix, 1896
Oil on canvas

32 x 30 cm

Inventory number B 317

Vilhelm Hammershøi's total oeuvre is estimated to number approximately 400 drawings and paintings, of which portraits account for approximately one quarter of the total.¹ The vast majority of his portraits are of people he knew personally, such as family, friends and fellow artists. In addition, he painted several self-portraits throughout his life.

On the rare occasions when Hammershøi painted portraits to order, the sitter was often a casual acquaintance, such as Thora Bendix. She was married to the art collector and musician Fritz Emil Bendix, whom Hammershøi had met through his patron, the art collector Alfred Bramsen, and his children.²

Hammershøi has done a close-up of Thora Bendix, highlighting her distinctive features: the dark eyebrows and prominent cheekbones. The most striking aspect is Thora Bendix’s eyes, which are half closed. She turns her gaze outwards, towards the viewer, but at the same time her focus seems directed towards her own, inner world.

The portrait in the David Collection is a preliminary study for the larger oil painting Thora Bendix, née Anne Victoria Sundberg.³

Published in

Fortegnelse over arbejder af Vilhelm Hammershøi, booklet 1, Kunstforeningen, Copenhagen 1916, p. 13, cat. 132;
Sophus Michaëlis and Alfred Bramsen: Vilhelm Hammershøi. Kunstneren og hans Værk, Copenhagen 1918, p. 112, cat. 362;
Henrik Wivel: Hammershøi in The David Collection, Copenhagen 2017, pp. 66-67;
Henrik Wivel: Vilhelm Hammershøi. Maleri som poesi, Copenhagen 2026, p. 80;