It was after a repeat of this programme last week on TV (BBC4 May 2024) that I ordered a book on Hammershoi as I was so enamoured by his work. Thank you, Michael, for introducing me to this wonderful painter.

Hopefully Mr Palin does more art documentaries soon

What was the music

While reluctant to critique the venerable Mr. Palin, I think he’s missed the artists point entirely. My humble view is Hammershoi is only interested in light and how it changes the aspect of space, time, mood and perspective. He did not need color or the visages of humans to achieve his ends. He wasn’t hiding. He spoke volumes about who he was and what was important to him in the pure, uncompromising, starkness of his work. His muse was light and how it evokes emotion and mood.

... "" ARTY-FARTY "" She Was Not. SPLENDIFEROUS She Was Indeed 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿🖖 2:02

She's on her phone playing Tetris. Hammershøi predicting we would have to learn to love the necks of those closest to our hearts. Never seing their facial expressions. Being together in the same room not sharing the same space.

Wonderful to meet a new artist. The only critique I would offer on this show is that more music contemporary with Hammershoi would be an improvement. There was a lot of great music being produced in Scandinavia at the time.

What a gift! I had not heard of Hammershoi…. I’m intrigued, and what a gift Michael Pallin is to us all!

Understated beauty and grace when mixed with the silence is the feeling I get when I see those beautiful paintings. Do we really need to know more than what the artist has communicated through his paintings?

Im pretty sure if took some acid i would probably appreciate art (painters) more. But i do love Mr Palins work espically his portrail of a exleaper.

excellent artist

Makes me think of the film, Babette’s Feast

Does anyone know the name of the painting shown at this time 3:41 Thanks!

Just discovered this - I love Hammerjoi’s work and Michael Palin - this a pleasant discovery to be watched again.

23:18

That Danes didn't appreciate Hammershøi within his lifetime, and even shortly after, is so typical of the Danish character of Janteloven raising its ugly head.

I think Michael Palin should investigate every phenomenon on earth and do a documentary about each one

Maybe his wife didn’t want her face to be shown.

Many people don’t understand that painting is more a scientific endeavor rather than something as ethereal as they think. The ethereal starts after the painting is finished, not before. And the artist never know how it will all go or how will it end. It’s all a process of observation.

Vilhelm Hammershøi - one of my favourite painters. Thank you!

3rd Time watching this...🖤

18:00 - I thought an episode of Blackadder was about the begin!

Thanks

“sappho and her ‘friends’”

I am surprised that Michael Palin does not mention the light, particularly in the interiors. It is not grey, at closer inspection, but a rich palette of greys or whites made luminescent with their complements and near complements. His closeness to Vermeer (whose walls are not just white either) is obvious, but Hammershoi unclutters them, ridding them of fabrics and objects, to allow the light flooding and dimming the spaces. He is also interested in the geometric arrangements of rectangles, walls, doors, windows, creating almost abstract compositions. This is also what he took from Whistler. Of course, being a Danish painter, he would not paint the sun-spun light of France like his Impressionist contemporaries, but the clear, crisp light you only find in the north.

58:52 "Run away"! The Python appeareth.

Nice one. Let them speak of asthetic aspects and show their glorious buttocks at the same time... I think the reason why he painted his wife's rear so often was because she didn't want to be portrayed, and because he liked her neckline. Painting obvious beauty was not his goal, he wanted to point out the beauty after the second or third glance.

I don't think Michael Palin understands loneliness.

This video production is as good as the artwork it portrays. Nice work.

His paintings are amazing and I think they a beautiful stillness about them with the figure with her back to us. I think the intention is for us to take in and absorb a moment in time that has been caught in a painting otherwise would’ve been lost to time. The paintings are beautiful, mysterious, showing us the eternal rhythm of time .

Her art is stunning 👍

For me Hammershoi evokes a timeless solitude reminiscent of Hopper.

I watched this docu years ago and was immediatly addicted to Hammershoi. Thanks to the internet I now have several of his paintings (well prints of them).🍒

I don't know why, but I love that painting of the museum.

I am a friend of Hammershoi. I saw his work in National Gallery and fell in love from the first sight. He's my favourite painter.

Boomers are weird!

I wonder if Tadeusz Łępicki was wearing his wedding ring on his left hand…he was Polish, in Poland the wedding ring is worn on the right hand. Maybe left, unfinished had on the painting is just a coincidence, not the obvious symbol?

Every documentary Michael makes is great. What a pleasant middle of the night watch.

I don't believe Hammershoi really needs any elaboration or commentary beyond the initial describing as that of restraint.

It is merely the plainness - realism.

An extremely interesting programme with haunting paintings

Hammershoi's work is truly mesmerizing. So glad this documentary is posted here, I've been a fan of Michael Palin for years and it's wonderful to watch him discover this amazing artist.

What a fascinating artist & programme, impeccably presented by the delightfully charming, cultured but unassuming Palin. The voices got very quiet after about half way, becoming scarcely audible even with volumes fully turned up to maximum. And that blimmin' piano phrase repeated over & over dozens of times was intensely irritating!!! Give us silence in which to absorb the atmospheres, please! Otherwise excellent. :)

Thank you so much for making this wonderful film portrait of an important painter available to us. Quite important for my studies and my enjoyment :) Tim Baynes 1st year BA (Hons) Fine Art/ Painting, Drawing and Printmaking - Carmarthen

This is an incredibly artfully made documentary. A real joy to watch....50min 01sec 😭

41:52 Hello...I'm, eh....pretending this hasn't been pre-arranged, can I come in.

Hammershoi didn’t bend the painting “Quiet Room”. His patron did.

I have loved Hammershoi's paintings for years. This video was, however, too much of Michael Palin. Too little Hammershoi.

He preferred to not show faces after his wonderful painting of his sister wasn't recognized by the academy. He preferred to show the mysterious beauty of an era that is long gone. He preferred to make us aware of the transcendent beauty of life, and of the transcendent beauty of light in scenes of everyday life. He preferred to make his talent known for the transcendent beauty of half-open doors. In his art, he preferred to hold on to a time frame between the leaving of the prodigal son and his return, leaving the doors half-open. He could return anytime.

Hammershoi was the favorite painter of KLagerfeld😊