THROUGH AN OPEND DOOR OR WINDOW – The domestic wonderful world of Pieter De Hooch

PIETER DE HOOCH 1/3 – He was a contemporary of Jan Vermeer, and was a Dutch Golden Age painter famous for his genre works of quiet domestic scenes with an open doorway. There is no document to prove that De Hooch and Vermeer were friends or had any professorial relations, but the similarities between their paintings must imply that there was contact between the two artists. De Hooch (the eldest of five children), he was born in Rotterdam, and studied art in Haarlem under the landscape painter Berchem.

PIETER DE HOOCH 2/3 – In 1655, he registered with the artists guild in Delft as an independent painter. Like many artists of the time, De Hooch also had a second trade: he worked for a cloth merchant. The early work of de Hooch was mostly composed of scenes of soldiers and peasants in stables and taverns, but after starting his family (in the mid-1650s), he switched his focus to domestic scenes.

PIETER DE HOOCH 3/3 – As you can see, his work showed astute observation of the mundane details of everyday life, while also functioning as well-ordered morality tales. The figures in De Hooch’s paintings are usually members of the middle classes who are seen at their domestic tasks, reflecting a virtuous mode of living. When De Hooch died is unclear, but his last dated work is from that year 1684. You can see more on Meeting Benches, looking for: http://meetingbenches.com/2016/07/pieter-de-hooch-16291684-dutch-painter-figures-in-domestic-setting-room-or-yard-through-an-open-door-or-window/

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