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Pieter de Hooch (artist) Dutch, 1629 - 1684 A Dutch Courtyard, 1658/1660 oil on canvas Overall: 69.5 x 60 cm (27 3/8 x 23 5/8 in.) framed: 92.7 x 83.8 x 12.1 cm (36 1/2 x 33 x 4 3/4 in.) Andrew W. Mellon Collection 1937.1.56 Not on View |
The serenity and self-confidence characteristic of Dutch art of the mid-seventeenth century are admirably expressed in this representation of a middle-class courtyard in Delft. The woman takes time from her round of chores to share a drink with two men relaxing in the pale sunlight; the little girl brings coals for their pipes.
De Hooch worked in Delft from 1652 to about 1660 when he moved to Amsterdam. In the 1650s, together with other artists active in that small and relatively quiet city, notably Carel Fabritius and Johannes Vermeer, he painted everyday scenes remarkable for their clarity of perspective and harmony of light. De Hooch gave order to his compositions by carefully determining how his architectural elements should be placed. The position of doors, windows and their shutters, floor tiles, or bricks were all carefully calculated and painted. As in this example, he often suggested a sequence of ordered spaces by showing distant views through windows or doors.
Despite the realistic appearance of the scene, this courtyard view is a distillation of typical elements found in many of De Hooch's courtyard paintings. Thus, even though the tower of the Nieuwe Kerk appears in the left background, it is unlikely that this view ever existed or that the exact location of the courtyard could be found.