Delft - Holanda
National Gallery of Art Washington D.C. Estados Unidos
OST - 69x60 - 1658-1660
A Dutch
Courtyard (1658–1660) is an oil on canvas painting by the Dutch painter Pieter de Hooch, it is an example of Dutch Golden Age painting and
is part of the collection of the National Gallery of Art.
This painting
by Hooch was documented by Hofstede de Groot in 1910, who wrote:
295. A
Courtyard with Two Cavaliers and a Woman Drinking. Sm. Suppl. 30.
A view in a courtyard, at the end of which an open door with two steps leads into
the garden at the back, the trees in which rise above the low wall. In the left
foreground a man who is smoking a pipe sits in profile to the right; he wears a
black coat, a grey cloak, and a black hat. To the right, opposite him at the
table, stands a woman drinking a glass of beer; she wears a yellowish-grey
jacket, a red skirt, and a blue apron. Behind the table and between the man and
woman sits another man, wearing a cuirass and a hat, who faces the spectator;
he holds a mug in his hand and looks up with a smile at the woman. From the
right a little girl holding a pot comes across the courtyard. In the left
background is seen the tower of the Nieuwe Kerk at Delft. The picture agrees
exactly with that in the collection of Lady Wantage (297), except that in
the Wantage picture the figure of the man behind the table is absent. The
figures are unusually small in relation to the space, but the effect of
sunlight is delicately rendered. Canvas, 30 1/2 inches by 25 1/2 inches. An old
copy was in a Dutch dealer's possession in 1903. Described by Waagen (ii. 130).
Sales:
C. S. Roos, Amsterdam,
August 28, 1820, No. 51 (600 or 750 florins, Van Eyk).
(Possibly) S.
A. Koopman, Utrecht, April 9, 1847, if Sm. is wrong in saying that it belonged
to Baron de Rothschild in 1842. (Compare 299.)
In the
possession of Baron L. de Rothschild, 1842 (Sm.).
In the
collection of Lionel de Rothschild,
London.
Now [in 1910],
probably, in the collection of Mr. Alfred de Rothschild.
According to
the National Gallery of Art, the provenance of the painting after it was in the
collection of Alfred de Rothschild was that it was bequeathed to his illegitimate
daughter, Almina Victoria,
Countess of Carnarvon. Then it was sold in 1924 to the Duveen Brothers, Inc. Then it was sold in November 1924
to Andrew W. Mellon of
Pittsburgh and Washington, D.C., who deeded it 28 December 1934 to The A.W.
Mellon Educational and Charitable Trust in Pittsburgh. From there it was gifted
in 1937 to the National Gallery of Art.
Pieter de
Hooch worked in the small and relatively quiet city of Delft from 1652 to about
1660. Like other Delft artists, most notably Carel Fabritius and Johannes
Vermeer, De Hooch painted everyday scenes that are remarkable for their clarity
of perspective and harmony of light. He gave order to his compositions by
emphasizing the geometry of architectural elements. The positioning of doors,
windows and their shutters, floor tiles, and bricks was all carefully calculated
and painted.
Women going
about their daily chores or attending to visitors, such as the soldiers seen
here sitting around a table smoking and drinking, are a frequent theme in De
Hooch’s work. The man wearing a breastplate is setting down the pitcher he has
used to refill the "pass-glass" held by the woman. The pass-glass was
used in drinking games. Each participant had to drink down to a circular line
on the glass; failing to reach the exact level, the reveler would be required
to drink down to the next ring. Only when this was done successfully would the
glass be passed on to the next participant. The little girl carries a brazier
of hot coals so that the two soldiers can light their long-stemmed, white clay
pipes. Despite its apparent realism, and the presence of the tower of the
Nieuwe Kerk in the background, the scene probably does not depict a specific
courtyard.
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