There was a new record for any Danish work of art at auction at Sotheby’s in London yesterday when Vilhelm Hammershøi’s Interior, Strandgade 30 sold for £2,045,000. The estimate was £700,000-900,000. The painting was hotly pursued by four bidders on the telephone, before selling to an American private collector at a record price for the artist.
Nina Wedell-Wedellsborg, Head of Sotheby’s Denmark, said: “We are thrilled that Hammershøi’s ‘Interior, Strandgade 30’ established a new record for the artist at auction, and also a record for any Danish work of art at auction. Hammershøi is an artist whom Danish people hold close to their hearts. But with his ascent to international status through recent high-profile exhibitions, record-breaking prices at auction, and his unique aesthetic that finds resonance among collectors of both Old Masters and Modern and Contemporary art, he has been embraced around the world, in academic circles, among art collectors, and also by the wider public.”