A self-portrait from 1911 by the well-known Danish artist Vilhelm Hammershøi sold yesterday for 2.8 million kroner. According to a statement from the Bruun Rasmussen auction house, that sets the world-record for the price paid for a self-portrait of the artist.
The painting was sold to a foreign art collector via the live bidding section of the auction house's website.
“Hammershøi self-portraits are extremely rare on the international auction market,” said Ksaper Nielsen, sales director at Bruun Rasmussen in a statement. “Expectations were high and we are very satisfied with the outcome.”
Record price
Bruun Rasmussen’s release about the painting suggested that Hammershøi had at one time hung the self-portrait in his home in Christianshavn in Copenhagen.
Hammershøi is regarded as one of the greatest Danish artists on the international auction market. In 2012, a private collector paid over 15 million kroner for Hammershøi’s painting ‘Ida reading a letter’, the highest price ever paid for any Danish work of art.
The artist died in 1916.
