SBMA Acquires Iconic Artwork by Hammershøi Dedicated to Larry Feinberg

In a most progressive move, the Santa Barbara Museum of Art (SBMA) has acquired the iconic artwork, Den Hvide Dør (The White Door), 1888, oil on canvas, by artist Vilhelm Hammershøi (1864–1916), and has dedicated it in honor of Larry J. Feinberg, the SBMA distinguished Robert and Mercedes Eichholz Executive Director and CEO, who was at the helm from 2008 through November 2023.

This rare and in pristine condition painting holds a strong place in the international art world and clearly upholds the SBMA’s global status for acquisitions in its permanent collection. The work also hallmarks the artist’s pre-visionary movement to what was later called the Modernist movement, unbeknownst to him being a Symbolist artist. In addition, the critics of Hammershøi’s art felt it had a Neuroaesthetics element, that being: the ability to calm the mental states of those viewing it, again ahead of its time.

The artist himself said in a 1908 interview, “It was the first picture of an empty room I painted. I have always thought there was such beauty about a room like that, even though there are no people in it, perhaps precisely because there are no people in it.” 

In the U.K. the Pall Mall Gazette, April 4, 1907, wrote, “It is to the modern of moderns, Wilhelm Hammershøi, that we must turn.”British critic, T. Martin Wood, in The Studio in September 1909, wrote of Hammershøi as the leading exemplar of a new genre of modern art, that is, the ‘modern interior painting,’ and the human presence merely inferred. “The painter [Hammershøi] is a poet, we find ourselves wondering what vanished presence is reflected still in the empty room.”

The acquisition happened under the astute shepherding of Eik Kahng, SBMA Deputy Director and Chief Curator, who shared in our interview, “We [at SBMA] had long recognized that the museum’s 19th and Early 20th Century European Collection was heavily weighted toward the French Barbizon School and Impressionism, so it seemed logical to add a significant painting by a Northern Symbolist Artist. We had specifically listed Vilhelm Hammershøi as a desired addition in our Strategic Plan, and when I came across this work, we immediately moved to acquire it. The painting is unlined (that is, no backing canvas was added for support, which often causes slight damage to the painting’s surface when it is applied), which is rare for a painting of its age. It requires no conservation at this time, and the frame is reproductive, meaning modern, but entirely consistent from a period point of view. The Collections Committee heartily embraced a decision to dedicate the work to Larry J. Feinberg as a fitting tribute to his long tenure of successful directorship, the longest in the history of the SBMA, coupled with his interest in symbolism as an art historian and curator himself.”

I met with Feinberg and Kahng at the SBMA for a photo op with the Hammershøi. Feinberg and I talked at length about it. He shared: 

“This is an extraordinary find on Eik’s part because she has been looking for a major 19th century northern Europe painting for some time, which we needed to represent, and actually this artist was listed in our Strategic Plan. She did the utmost due diligence regarding the work before presenting it to the Collections Committee and myself during the last few months before I retired. Due to our strong relationship with the dealers in London, I was able to immediately secure it for the SBMA. We were all very excited, and I am still excited about it. Already my colleagues in Chicago and NYC are calling about this acquisition!

“The Symbolist artists were interested in dream and subconscious imagery to express the spiritual in everyday life. This painting has that quality; there is a sense of presence there even though it is devoid of people, something very moving about it, almost metaphysical. 

“I am absolutely delighted that the Museum has acquired this beautiful and very important painting in my honor. Hammershøi is the greatest of the Danish Symbolists. This is among the most significant acquisitions of 19th-century art that the Museum has made in decades.”

The painting is on permanent display in the Ridley-Tree Gallery; do take your time while viewing and immersing in the not-so-empty room.  

411: www.sbma.net