HANS HILSOE
(Danish 1871 – 1942)

Biography

Danish artist Hans Hilsoe is known for intimate formal interiors, landscapes and rural scenes. His poetic, subdued and intimate interiors are a testament to the conservation of Danish cultural heritage, incorporating elegant high ceilings and traditional furniture. Many of the interiors and garden settings are set in Bakkehuset, a historic house museum just West of Copenhagen focusing on literature and culture from the Danish Golden Age.  The house is a recreation of the home as it was in the time of Kamma and Knud Lyne Rahbek who lived there from 1802 to 1830. The couple opened their home to authors, opinion formers and scientists of the age, including Hans Christian Andersen, who contributed in their own way to the home’s unique atmosphere and history.  

Hilsoe’s interiors are bathed in natural light, often highlighted with luminous sun-lit nuances. Often there is a lady, seen from the back, enjoying domestic pleasures such as reading, playing piano, etc. His work can be compared to the Dutch masters and is in the style of the famous Danish artist Vilhelm Hammershoi (1864-1916), but with the Danish Golden Age influence of Wilhelm Eckersberg.