Interior in Strandgade, Sunlight on the Floor
Original title
Vilhelm Hammershøi
- Institution
- SMK – Statens Museum for Kunst (National Gallery of Denmark) ↗
- Accession
- KMS3696
- Rights
Public domain: the artist died in 1916. SMK marks this image as public domain (Public Domain Mark 1.0).
- Description
- A pale grey room with a tall, white-curtained window and a closed white door. A woman in black sits with her back to us at a small table against the wall, and sunlight through the window lays a bright pattern of panes on the bare floor.
- Image
- 1600 × 1400
source file retrieved 2026-10-11 - Catalogue no.
- G-009040
coldlibrary.com/g/009040 - Credit line
- Vilhelm Hammershøi, Interior in Strandgade, Sunlight on the Floor, 1901. SMK – Statens Museum for Kunst (National Gallery of Denmark), PDM-1.0. Via Cold Library: https://coldlibrary.com/g/009040
The same apartment at Strandgade 30, by day. Hammershøi’s wife Ida often posed for him seen from behind, so the room keeps its privacy, and so does she. The real subject is the patch of sun on the floorboards, which will have moved by the time anyone looks up.
A room, a window, a person at a table, and a square of sunlight that is already moving. The painting asks for nothing and explains nothing, and still holds attention for a long time. I keep it as a reminder that a quiet room with good light is subject enough.
