“I have always thought that there was such a beauty about a room like that, even though there weren't any people in it, perhaps precisely when there weren't any."

–Vilhelm Hammershøi[1]

I first met Ida Hammershøi, the faceless woman who appears in so many of Vilhelm Hammershøi’s interiors, when I was reading about Vermeer’s Woman Reading a Letter.[2] From that moment, I found myself following her through Hammershøi’s interiors: standing with her back turned, looking out a window, waiting silently in front of a door, or pausing in a doorway. Sometimes she was shown reading or writing with her fingers resting on a table, or leaning slightly back in a chair, lost in thought. Watching her in these frozen moments felt like entering into a world shaped as much by light as by the figure herself.

Light as Storyteller: From Monet to Friedrich

Light has always captivated me in art. As an impressionist lover, I began my journey of art history by studying Monet. Claude Monet, in his Haystacks and Rouen Cathedral series, taught me that sunlight is not just a basic illumination but can be an emotion. He used a high-key color palette, choosing blues, purples, greens, and reds instead of harsh and dark colors such as black or brown. Shadows, even deep ones like in his Grand Canal, are alive with color. In contrast, it can be concluded that Caravaggio uses light like a spotlight with dramatizing faces and gestures by making darkness central in the story.[3] Moreover, Caspar David Friedrich, in his works such as Woman at the Window, shows us how light can symbolize spiritual longing and the pull of the infinite beyond the frame.[4]

When I realized that no one from my acquaintance, at least, knows Hammershøi, I got shocked, to think that an artist so attuned to the quiet poetry of light, and capable of rendering it with such fine mastery, could be almost invisible in contemporary conversation. His light, unlike Monet’s impressionism or Caravaggio’s darkness, is soft and intimate.[5] In Interior, Strandgade 30 and Interior with Young Woman Seen from the Back, sunlight floats through shabby windows, brushing floors, walls, and furniture. In Ida Reading a Letter and Interior with Ida Playing the Piano, it can be said that the figure is secondary; the light itself is the protagonist with the contours of the room.

An ode to an artwork: Dust Motes Dancing in Sunbeams

I am very much drawn to Dust Motes Dancing in Sunbeams (1900), where the painting presents an empty room in Hammershøi's 17th-century apartment in Denmark. In here, the sunlight streams through a window by catching tiny dust particles in the air. They float like whispers that are illuminated against pale gray walls, floors, and furnishings with low-key coloring. The dust particles shimmer as if they were breathing, giving the room a fragile feeling, which makes the scene almost alive.

What fascinates me most is the serendipity of experiencing such quiet wonder in Hammershøi’s paintings, where stillness and light collide in a harmony. From Interior, Strandgade 30, where sunlight again floats gently through tall and old windows, to Ida Reading a Letter, with her back turned yet fully present in the luminous space, each painting feels like a special revelation. In a world so often full of glamour, I came across Hammershøi’s work and found that these ordinary spaces could evoke a bittersweet feeling.

Born in 1864 in Copenhagen, he lived a life based on observation. Instead, he retreated with his wife, Ida, into their Copenhagen apartment, turning its quiet, light-filled rooms into a laboratory for the study of atmosphere, shadow, and mood[6]. In these interiors, every detail from the polish of a table, the edge of a window frame, the soft curve of a chair becomes significant, but never boring. The light, whether sunlight or the glow of an oil lamp,  draws invisible paths through air and dust by giving life to empty spaces.

In Dust Motes Dancing in Sunbeams, the air seems alive. The dust caught in the movement of the sun's rays is suspended between the floor and ceiling. In this artwork, there is movement without action, rhythm without music, a silent pulse that makes the room seem full even when no one is present. Hammershøi’s choice of muted color palette, pale creams, and soft browns illustrates this fragile atmosphere. He once said,  “Personally I am fond of the old; of old houses, of old furniture, of that quite special mood that these things possess."[7] He avoids using color as a distraction; instead, the soft palette allows the light to take center stage in the glow that pools gently on floors and walls.

In the BBC4 documentary called "Michael Palin and the Mystery of Hammershøi", he said to be color-blind due to his “muted" paintings. This use of light and dust together does more than to create an uncanny mood; it makes the time itself visible. With the sunlight entering at a particular angle and the dust drifting slowly through the air, they mark a moment of somberness.[8] In Hammershøi's works, we feel the lingering, the noticing, and the transformation of the simple rhythms of daily life into art.

Though his fame in his lifetime was modest, Hammershøi’s influence spread far beyond Copenhagen. Later artists such as Edward Hopper and Andrew Wyeth influenced his interpretation of silence, mood, and interior light.[9]  Yet even in these echoes, Hammershøi’s voice remains original of his own with his regular use of light and shadow.

In every one of his paintings, I return to the same realization: Hammershøi does not only depict rooms; he illuminates the invisible: the quiet passage of light, the whisper of air, the presence of absence… Dust Motes Dancing in Sunbeams is more than a painting; it is an experience, a meditation on the quiet beauty of what we often fail to notice, and a reminder that even silence can shine.

Who is this “faceless woman”?

Ida Hammershøi, his wife and his constant companion, appears in more than a hundred of his works, most often with her back turned in domestic tasks, referred as the ‘faceless woman’.[10] In Ida Reading a Letter (1887), she is standing near a table laid with a double coffee pot and a single cup, framed by a closed door behind her and an open door in front. These small architectural depictions show her presence in a muted gray space, by emphasizing both her stillness and the serenity of her surroundings. Painted a year after Hammershøi moved into his apartment at Strandgade 30, the work shows inspiration from Dutch 17th-century master Johannes Vermeer, particularly Woman in Blue Reading a Letter, which Hammershøi would have seen during his travels to the Netherlands in 1887.[11] The hairstyle, pose, and weird arrangement of objects in the room are portrayed with light, which  illuminates Ida without drawing attention away from the scene.

His later works, such as Interior with a Reading Lady (1900) and Interior with Ida Playing the Piano, continue this exploration of stillness, light, and basic house framing. For me, Ida’s presence is never theatrical; she is both a subject and a witness by guiding the viewer’s attention through the pale light and shadow, and filling the space with her calm characteristic. These interiors, once again reveal Hammershøi’s ability to transform ordinary everyday depictions into a dreamy feeling.

Contemporary ‘Light’: Olafur Eliasson’s The Little Sun

Light continues to be a beautiful symbol in contemporary art, not only as a visual storyteller but as an element of social and emotional impact. Olafur Eliasson’s The Little Sun project exemplifies this. As both an artwork and a social invention, The Little Sun is a small, portable solar-powered lamp designed to bring light to communities without reliable electricity, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa.[12] Eliasson, who had an exhibition on Istanbul Modern, combined art, design, passion and sustainability to make light accessible and portable for everyone.

In The Little Sun, light is transformed from being a basic element in the artworks into a symbol of hope and independence. Children can carry it home from school or study in the evenings. Through the warmth of its glow, Eliasson reminds us that light can crash out the boundaries. In this sense, light becomes more than a single factor of composition, as it is in Hammershøi’s interiors; it becomes an opportunity, a change and a tool for improving lives.

Conclusion: The Everlasting Poetry of Light

Through Vilhelm Hammershøi, I have discovered that light is far more than a visual tool; it is a storyteller, a depiction of stillness. From the floating dust motes to the quiet, to the presence of Ida, his interiors reveal the beauty of everyday life, the delicate rhythm of time, and the connection of human presence to space. In my opinion, light shapes mood, movement, and memory, and Hammershøi gives his ordinary ‘interiors’ an illuminated life.

Hammershøi’s paintings linger long after we leave the room. His paintings teach us that there is beauty in restraint, depth in simplicity, and wonder in the unnoticed. And so, I return again and again to his interiors, drawn by the fragile magic of light, which reminds me that even in silence, even in stillness, the world is endlessly alive.

NOTLAR

[1] Julian Bell, “So True, so Intimate”, The Guardian, 27.06.2008 (Accessed 14.9.2025)

[2] Bkz. Jonathan Janson, “Understanding Girl Reading a Letter at an Open Window by Johannes Vermeer”, Essentialvermeer.com, 2021 (Accessed 14.09.2025)

[3] Jacob Anderson, “The Innovative Use of Light in Caravaggio’s Baroque Paintings”, 1st-art-gallery.com, (Accessed 12.09.2025)

[4] Woman at a Window, Wikipedia (Accessed 14.09.2025)

[5] Michael Palin, “A heady fusion of Hopper and Vermeer”, The Guardian, 25.02.2005 (Accessed 14.09.2025)

[6] Lucy Davies, “Ida Hammershøi: The Identity of Art’s Most Famous “Faceless Woman”, BBC, 11.06.2024 (Accessed 14.9.2025)

[7] Julian Bell, “So True, so Intimate”, The Guardian, 27.06.2008 (Accessed 14.9.2025) 

[8] Tim Brinkhof, “Who Was Ida Hammershøi, the Unseen Muse of a Danish Master?”, Artnet News, 30.10.2024 (Accessed 13 Eylül 2025)

[9] Lucy Davies, “Ida Hammershøi: The Identity of Art’s Most Famous “Faceless Woman”, BBC, 11.06.2024 (Accessed 14.9.2025) 

[10] M. Naves, “Vilhelm Hammershoi (1864-1916): Danish Painter of Solitude and Light”, Jstor.org, 2024, (Accessed 13.09.2025)

[11] M. Naves, “Vilhelm Hammershoi (1864-1916): Danish Painter of Solitude and Light”, Jstor.org, 2024 (Accessed 13.09.2025)

[12] Olafur Eliasson, “Little Sun • Artwork • Studio Olafur Eliasson”, Olafureliasson.net, 2012 (Accessed 13.09.2024)