Pieter de Hooch was an artist of the Dutch Golden Age. He was born on December 20, 1629. He was known especially for his domestic scenes indoors, often with an open doorway or a bright window. An interest has been taken in the progression of his skills, which in some aspects is quite fascinating. In his early painting days, his work centered mainly around peasants and soldiers, although his own focus was more on establishing his skills in light, color, and perspective than on the characters in his works. It wasn’t until after he had begun his own family that his subject matter evolved to depict domestic scenes, which could have been of his own family. Over the years his treatment of the subject matter itself matured, and his style bore striking similarities to that of Vermeer. He now paid careful attention to subtle detail, and his treatment of light was warm and sophisticated. Vermeer’s paintings, too, were sprinkled with objects surrounding their few characters, rather than focusing on human interaction. In a sense, his characters were merely props for the true picture, and yet it is they which we still notice.
Below are shown A Boy Bringing Bread, A Woman Peeling Apples,
and Tavern Scene with Maid Trying to Fill the Glass of a Cavalier.
