The Coin Collector

Vilhelm Hammershøi's Coin Collector, painted in 1904, is an unusual departure from the quiet, almost empty interiors for which the Danish master is celebrated. A figure absorbed in the activity of examining coins introduces the element of specific human occupation into the contemplative domestic spaces typical of his work. The coin collector's absorbed attention — a figure in private relationship with objects of historical and material significance — has a philosophical dimension consistent with Hammershøi's interest in interiority and the quality of attention. The National Museum of Art holds this as an important example of his figurative work.

Hammershøi's characteristic grey-silver palette and muted natural light suffuse the scene, unifying the collector and his coins within the same cool, still atmosphere as his empty interiors. The figure's absorbed posture is rendered with the same quiet restraint that characterises all his human subjects.