Vilhelm Hammershøi

Danish painter Vilhelm Hammershøi's (1864-1916) paintings often portray people turned away from the viewer in muted tones of greys, greens and purple. He mostly worked in native Copenhagen and I think a lot of the paintings are photographic in the framing. 
Look at how the table as been cropped in half, suggesting a limitation of the space that the artist is able to capture and also an outside world, beyond the frame.

I think these paintings are really scandinavian in their moodiness and muted tone.  I am comparing to his contemporary Andres Zorn. Although, there are significant differences in subject (interior vs exterior) and also aura, Hammershoi is more moody while Zorns seem more reflective yet almost passing. More like a snapshot of joy than sorrow. Both artist use a similar pallet and I think is is one that is symbolic of the scandinavian light and also something I am considering in my photography.

Anders Zorn Sommarnöje

Anders Zorn

Anders Zorn "Out"

Growing up I used to admire Anders Zorn in Gothenburg's art museum. They have the image directly above in their collections. I used to visit the art museum alot and would always peak into the photographic exhibition at Hasselblad's center althoug my favourite rooms were on the third floor where the late 1900th and early 2000th century art was located. (Zorn amongst other such as Picasso, Cezanne, Monet and more)

This is a particular one that I would spend a long time looking at. I used to look at the gentlemans foot as it does not seem to touch the railing it is also slightly too large, it just does not look right.

Richard Bergh, Nordisk sommarkväll, 1899-1900.