Description

The painting, ‘ Dust motes dancing in the Sunbeams ‘ or simply ‘ Sunbeams’, below is probably one of the best known works by Hammershøi. It gained great admiration from his critics and peers alike who commented favourably on the way Hammershøi illuminated the passing dust with sunlight from the window. Notice that there is no window furniture and no door hinges are visible, which allows for the feeling of isolation the artist wanted to create. Another element demonstrating this feeling are the virtually opaque window panes, not allowing the view from the outside world to venture in. Hammershøi painted this scene many times.

The original painting is now held by the Ordrupgaard Museum in Copenhagen(photograph by Pernille Klemp). This painting is also often known as ‘Dust Motes Dancing in the Sunbeams’ but this title was probably invented by Alfred Bramsen and Sophus Michaëlis, the publishers of his first catalogue. Hammershøi preferred the name Sunbeams or Sunshine. The image(below left) shows the Hammershøis apartment on Strandgade. This is also the view back to the window in the Sunbeams painting.