The white background looks more austere to me.

Chinese painting, which focused on landscapes, looked to Western eyes austere, forbidding and not representational enough.

Both men in repose looked austere and even severe.

Harris looked a little more austere than when I had last seen him.

Bellboys stood with folded arms and the two clerks behind the marble desk looked austere.

The Elven guard sighed with relief and suddenly looked far less austere.

He shook his head curtly and tried to look austere.

Some of his metal works (and some in wood, too) look austere, but this is due to their abstract form.

From the west, also, rose the single tower, which in a photograph only looked austere, but now became one leap into the stars.

The room, despite its red carpet and curtains, looked austere and felt cold.