The Content Reader

In his book, Kvinna sedd bakifrån (Woman Seen From the Back) Jesper Wung-Sung has written a historical fiction about Ida Ilsted, wife of Danish painter Wilhelm Hammershøi. Wung-Sung’s writing is like Hammershøi’s painting; simplistic and stripped down to the basic minimalistic surrounding, which fits very well into the life of Ida. Ida meets Wilhelm through her artist brother Peter. They become good friends and Ida is quite surprised when Wilhelm proposes to her. Ida’s life at home is troublesome with a mentally unstable mother who has not much love for her daughter, and cannot imagine why anybody would like to marry her. Wilhelm comes from an upper class home and is worshipped by his mother, who thinks nobody good enough for her son. It does not seem like a good start for their marriage. Wilhelm is a very secluded person, only happy when he is painting. Ida is also a secluded person although a bit more social than her husband. She is very supportive of his art although not knowing an...