![Vilhelm Hammershøi - The Old Warehouse in Christianshavn [1909]](http://farm1.staticflickr.com/293/19828916398_557fdf8ff1_o.jpg)
Painted in 1909, this is one of two oil studies for the larger composition (68.5 x 56 cm) now in the Hamburger Kunsthalle. The painting shows the front of the old warehouse at Christianshavn, which stood not far from the artist’s home at Strandgade 30 until it was demolished in 1938 to make way for new buildings. The closed, hermetic character of the image evokes a mood of haunting mystery: all doors and windows are closed, and the wall cropped by the edge of the picture obstructs the view to the left. Two masts towering above the wall are the only evidence of the canal hidden by it.
[Sotheby’s, London - Oil on canvas, 35.5 x 30.5 cm]