Pieter de Hooch in the spotlights in Delft
Pieter de Hooch, a true Delft painter, is often overshadowed by Johannes Vermeer. But an exhibition at Museum Prinsenhof in Delft helps to change this.
Pieter de Hooch. Courtyard in Delft, National Gallery London, 1658.
Born in Rotterdam, Pieter de Hooch, the son of a bricklayer, spent several decisive years in Delft, where he became a member of the painters’ guild, the Guild of St Luke, in 1655. He dedicated himself to fairly accurately depicting courtyards of a Delft character – often overlooking a piece of recognisable Delft architecture, such as the Oude Kerk or the Hieronymus Monastery. Pieter de Hooch enlivened his paintings with some figures in more or less everyday activities: cleaning, drinking, spinning, doing laundry.
The Gold Weigher, Pieter de Hooch, Gemäldegalerie Berlin, c. 1664
Sometime in the 1660s, Pieter de Hooch moved to Amsterdam, where his choice of subjects changed to paintings with scenes indoors. Here, the painted interiors became more luxurious and the people more expensively dressed, tailored to the tastes of Amsterdam’s wealthy elite. Occasionally, he also painted a group portrait in one of his typical interiors or outdoor scenes.
This exhibition at Museum Prinsenhof in Delft finally put Pieter de Hooch in the spotlight for once. Among other things, we learned that not all architectural details were painted after reality, but Pieter de Hooch often combined existing elements into his own compositions. And in the process, he also created the perspectives that lead far into the depths and that became so characteristic of his art. Comparison with Vermeer’s work shows that both painters apparently inspired each other, and at least De Hooch’s paintings influenced the oeuvre of Johannes Vermeer.
Portrait of a music making family from the Cleveland Museum of Art (detail), Pieter de Hooch 1663
A beautifully designed exhibition at Museum Prinsenhof in Delft that was a must-see, with loans from renowned international collections such as the National Gallery of Art in Washington D.C., Queen Elizabeth II.’s collection, the Gemäldegalerie of the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin and the Gemäldegalerie der Akademie der bildenden Künste in Vienna. The exhibition was on view until 16 February 2020 under the title Pieter de Hooch in Delft. Uit de schaduw van Vermeer .
Pieter de Hooch, Spinning woman, painting from Her Majesty’s Queen Elizabeth II collection
You have missed this exhibition? There are also a number of fine works by Pieter de Hooch in Dutch collections, which we might encounter during a guided tour at the Rijksmuseum or at the Mauritshuis in The Hague, for example. Click here to get in contact and book a museum tour in one of these two museums.
(This text was originally written when the exhibition was still on view and was edited after it had ended).
