Gerrit Dou

Gerrit Dou
Self-portrait(c.1665),Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Born	7 April 1613 Leiden,Dutch Republic
Died	9 February 1673 (aged 61) Leiden,Dutch Republic
Nationality	Dutch
Education	Rembrandt(master)
Movement	Leiden fijnschilder

Gerrit Dou(7 April 1613 – 9 February 1675), also known asGerardDouworDow,was aDutch Golden Age painter,whose small, highly polished paintings are typical of theLeiden fijnschilders.He specialised ingenre scenesand is noted for histrompe-l'œil"niche" paintings and candlelit night-scenes with strongchiaroscuro.He was a student ofRembrandt.

Life

Girl Chopping Onions,1646

Dou was born inLeiden,where his father was a manufacturer of stained-glass.He studied drawing underBartholomeus Dolendo,and then trained in the stained-glass workshop of Pieter Couwenhorn. In February 1628, at the age of fourteen, his father sent him to study painting in the studio ofRembrandt(then aged about 21) who lived nearby.From Rembrandt, with whom he remained for about three years, he acquired his skill in colouring and in the more subtle effects ofchiaroscuro,and his master's style is reflected in several of his earlier pictures, notably a self-portrait at the age of 22 in the Bridgewater Collection, and in theBlind Tobit going to meet his Son,atWardour Castle[locations may be outdated].

At a comparatively early point in his career, however, he developed a distinctive manner of his own which diverged considerably from Rembrandt's, cultivating a minute and elaborate style of treatment. He is said to have spent five days in painting a hand, and his work was so fine that he found it necessary to manufacture his own brushes.

A Woman Playing aClavichord,c. 1665

Notwithstanding the minuteness of his touch, the general effect was harmonious and free from stiffness, and his colour was always fresh and transparent. He often represented subjects in lantern or candle light, the effects of which he reproduced with an unparalleled fidelity and skill.He often painted with the aid of a concave lens combined with a convex mirror (the former sharpening perception, the latter providing a rightway-up image to paint from), and to obtain exactness looked at his subject through a frame crossed with squares of silk thread. His practice as a portrait painter, which was at first considerable, gradually declined, sitters being unwilling to give him the time that he deemed necessary. His pictures were always small in size. More than 200 are attributed to him, and examples are to be found in most of the major public collections of Europe.Hischef-d'oeuvreis generally considered to beThe Dropsical Woman(1663), andThe Dutch Housewife(1650), both in theLouvre.TheEvening School,in the Amsterdam Rijksmuseum, is the best example of the candlelight scenes in which he excelled. In theNational Gallery, London,favorable specimens are to be seen in thePoulterer's Shop(1672), and a self-portrait (see above).Dou's pictures brought high prices, and one patron, Pieter Spiering, who acted as Swedish Ambassador in The Hague from the mid-1630s, paid him 500 guilders annually simply for the right of first refusal of his latest works.Queen Christina of Sweden owned eleven paintings by Dou, and Cosimo III de' Medici visited his house, where he may have bought at least one of the works now in the Uffizi. The Dutch royal court itself, however, preferred work of a more classical tendency.

Dou died in Leiden. His most noted pupils wereFrans van Mieris the ElderandGabriël Metsu.He also taughtBartholomeus Maton,Carel de Moor,Matthijs Naiveu,Abraham de Pape,Godfried Schalcken,Pieter Cornelisz van Slingelandt,Domenicus van Tol,Gijsbert Andriesz Verbrugge, andPieter Hermansz Verelst.

• Gerrit Dou's self-portraits
• 
  Self-portrait,1635–1638,Cheltenham Art Gallery and Museum
• 
  The Painter in his Studio,1647Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister
• 
  Self-portrait,c. 1650,Rijksmuseum Amsterdam
• 
  Self-Portraitc. 1665Louvre

Interpretation

Young Woman in a Black Veil,c. 1660

A considerable amount was written about Dou in his own lifetime; for instance, Philips Angels praises Dou in hisLof der Schilderkunstfor his imitation of nature and his visual illusions. Angels also stresses how Dou's paintings expressed theparagone debatecurrent around that time. The debate was an ongoing competition between painting, sculpture and poetry as to which was the best representation of nature. It was especially popular in Leiden where the painters were seeking to obtain the rights of a guild from the town council in order to have laws for their economic protection.

Maid at the Window,c. 1660

The paragone debate is not only addressed in writings from that time but is also reflected in the subject matter of several of Dou's paintings. An example of this is theOld Painter at work,in which an old painter is shown working on a canvas behind a table displaying objects that show his capabilities of imitation. The aged painter refers to an argument in the paragone debate that a painter can achieve his best work at an old age, while a sculptor cannot because of the physical demands of sculpting. On the table, a sculptured head and a printed book are rendered in a lifelike fashion to show that painting can imitate both sculpture and printed paper, thereby reinforcing the notion that painting trumps sculpture. According to Sluijter, the "amazing true-to-life peacock and a beautiful Triton shell, next to a copper pot with the most refined reflections of light" show that art beats nature. Sluijter argues that the peacock stands for the ability of painting to "preserve the transient works of nature thereby even surpassing it". [Sluijter, 2000]

Difficulties arise when an artist wants to associate a certain meaning with a specific object. One of the most troublesome and thus one of the most instructive objects in Dou's oeuvre is a relief byFrançois DuquesnoycalledPutti Teasing a Goat.This relief features in many of Dou's pictures with a window-sill motif, and has been assigned various meanings. J. A. Emmens, for example, states that inThe Trumpeterthe relief represents "the deceitfulness of human desires, because the goat, personifying lust, can time and again be deceived by appearance, by the deceptive imitation, which is the mask". [Emmens, Opstellen, cit. (note 4), vol. 2, p 183 in Hecht, 2002]

The Kitchen Maid with a Boy in a Window,1652

The Kitchen Maid with a Boy in a Windowfeatures a maidservant, fish and a little boy holding a hare, cramped together with a bunch of vegetables, a dead bird and copperware. Sluijter acknowledges that a contemporary viewer would have certainly approved of this scene as representing an approximation of life since the rendering of all the material is very realistic. On the overall series of maidservant-scenes, Sluijter remarks that the image of a maidservant was generally associated with a sexual undertone. According to de Jongh, this motif has erotic references. In his article onEroticain 17th-century genre pieces, de Jongh argues that dead hunted birds and animals most likely all refer to the notion of eroticism and availability of the woman depicted because birding and hunting were synonyms for sexual encounters. All images of maidservants accompanied by dead birds or animals refer to hunting andvogelen(birding), which in Dutch means to copulate. The maidservants are thereby explicitly erotic. Certainly, a cock as a bird refers to a cock as the male sex organ and this can be seen hanging from the wall inKitchen Maid with a Boy in a Window.[de Jongh, 1968–1969]De Jongh´s erotic interpretations can be disputed regarding the paintings by Gerard Dou because he depicts his dead chicks and furry hares not only with seductive maidservants but also as props in motifs with old servants, or in domestic household scenes, such asThe Young Mother(1658).

Sleeping Dog,1650. Oil on panel (van Otterloo Collection,Museum of Fine Arts, Boston)

Trumpet-Player in front of a Banquet,1660–1665 (Louvre Palace)

Additionally, to objects possibly having a deeper meaning viaemblem books,complete scenes in Dou's oeuvre have been related to scenes depicted in emblem books or prints. TheGirl Pouring Wateris a variation of the themeEducatio prima bona sitfrom BoissardsVesuntini emblemata.This emblem depicts the moral that "children absorb knowledge like a pot absorbs water". The gaining of knowledge is represented by a little boy standing in the background while the water is poured in the foreground. [Hollander, 2002]

One painting that is strongly associated with an emblem is theNight School.This particular painting is rather anecdotal in character. Baer disagrees with Hecht who refers to this painting as being merely a demonstration of Dou's abilities to work with artificial light. Baer identifies the candle lights with the light of understanding, and she relates the unlit lantern on the left wall with ignorance, which is combated by teaching, represented by the lit lantern in the middle of the floor. Additionally, Baer suggests that the girl at the left is a representation of Cognitione because she strikes the same pose as inCesare Ripa'sIconologia.Like Ripa's emblem, the girl in Dou's painting holds a candle while pointing towards a line of text. The essence of Ripa's emblem is that "like our eyes, which need light to see, so our reason needs our senses, especially that of sight, to achieve true understanding". [Baer, 2001]

Posthumous reputation

Dou's work commanded high prices long after his death, until the 1860s. Soon after, he fell into near complete obscurity.For example, when the Metropolitan Museum of Art held in an exhibit to introduce Dutch art, it featured 37 by Rembrandt, 20 by Hals, but none by Dou. His obscurity continued until the 1970s when his reputation was reestablished and has continued since.

Works

The Quack Doctor,1652, Oil on panel, 112 x 83 cm,Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen,Rotterdam

Violinist,1665,Palace on the WaterinWarsaw.

• The Night School(Rijksmuseum,Amsterdam)
• 1628:Astronomer(Hermitage Museum,Saint Petersburg)
• 1631.1632Old Woman Reading(formerly known asRembrandt's Mother) (Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam)
• 1630s:Portrait of a Girl(Manchester Art Gallery,UK)
• 1631:Prince Rupert(J. Paul Getty Museum,Los Angeles)
• 1635–1636:Still Life with a Boy Blowing Soap-Bubbles(National Museum of Western Art,Tokyo)
• 1635–1640:Portrait of a Man(National Gallery, London)
• 1637:An Interior with a Young Violinist(National Galleries of Scotland)
• 1640s:Portrait of a Young Woman(National Gallery, London)
• 1640–1645:Portrait of a Man(Hermitage Museum, Saint Petersburg)
• 1642–1647:St. Jerome in the Desert(Memorial Art Gallery of theUniversity of Rochester,New York)
• 1645:The Schoolmaster(Fitzwilliam Museum,Cambridge)
• 1646:Girl Chopping Onions(Royal Collection,London)
• 1647:Still Life With Book and Purse(J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles)
• 1650:The Dutch Housewife(Louvre, Paris)
• 1650s:The Young Mother(Gemäldegalerie,Berlin)
• 1650s:Self Portrait(Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam)
• 1650s:Self-portrait at the Window(Residenzgalerie,Salzburg)
• 1658-1665:Young Woman with a Lighted Candle at a Window(Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum,Madrid)
• 1652:The Quack Doctor(Museum Boymans-van Beuningen,Rotterdam)
• 1653:The Physician(Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetu,Christchurch,New Zealand)
• 1653:The Violin Player(Liechtenstein Palace,Vienna)
• 1655:Old Woman Cutting Bread(Museum of Fine Arts,Boston)
• 1655:Astronomer by Candlelight(J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles)
• 1658:The Young Mother(Mauritshuis,The Hague)
• 1660s:The Nursery(Lost with the sinking of theVrouw Mariain 1771)
• 1660–1665:Dentist by Candlelight(Kimbell Art Museum, Fort Worth)
• 1660–1665:Old Woman Unreeling Threads(Hermitage Museum, Saint Petersburg)
• 1660–1665:Soldier Bather(Hermitage Museum, Saint Petersburg)
• 1660-1665:Woman Bather(Hermitage Museum, Saint Petersburg)
• 1660-1665:Self-portrait(Louvre, Paris)
• 1661:A Hermit(Wallace Collection,London)
• 1663:The Dropsical Woman(Louvre, Paris)
• 1663:Woman at a Window with a Copper Bowl of Apples and a Cock Pheasant(Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge)
• 1665:A Lady playing a Clavichord(Dulwich Picture Gallery,London)
• 1670:A Hermit Praying(Minneapolis Institute of Arts,Minnesota)
• 1670:The Hermit(National Gallery of Art,Washington, D.C.)
• 1670s:A Poulterer's Shop(National Gallery, London)
• 1670–75:The Herring Seller(Hermitage Museum, Saint Petersburg)
• Self Portrait(National Gallery, London)
• Portrait of a Young Man(Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge)
• Evening Light(Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam)
• Young Man(The Hague)
• The Cook(Louvre, Paris)
• The Spinner(Gala-Salvador DalíFoundation)
• The Spinning Reel(Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco)
• The Reader(Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco)
• Portrait of an Unknown Gentleman(Museum of Fine Arts at theUniversity of Montana,Missoula)
• Dog at Rest(Museum of Fine Arts, Boston)

• Gerrit Dou's works
• 
  Reading the Bible,c. 1645,Louvre
• 
  The Grocer's Shop,1647,Louvre
• 
  Dutch Housewife,1650,Louvre
• 
  Violon Player,1653,Liechtenstein Museum
• 
  The Physician,1653,Kunsthistorisches Museum,Vienna
• 
  The Young Mother,1658,Mauritshuis
• 
  Haringverkoopster met jongen,1664,Leiden Collection
• 
  A Hermit,1664,Rijksmuseum
• 
  Girl with a Candle at a Window,between 1658 and 1665,Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum,Madrid
• 
  Woman Peeling Carrot
• 
  Scholar sharpening a quill pen,1633,Leiden Collection
• 
  Woman Eating Porridge,c. 1632–1637,Private collection
• 
  Old Woman Cutting Bread,c. 1655,Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
• 
  Still life,c. 1660,Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden
• 
  The Silver Ewerc. 1663,Louvre
• 
  The Moneylender,c. 1664,Louvre
• 
  Woman Pouring Water into a Jar,from 1655 until 1665,Louvre
• 
  A Young Woman at her Toilet,1667,Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen

Cultural references

InHonoré de Balzac's 1831 novelLa Peau de chagrin,the curiosity shop Raphaël de Valentin enters in the opening sequence contains, among other paintings, "a Gerald Dow which resembled a page ofSterne,"and the old shopkeeper is compared to" Gerald Dow'sMoney-Changer."

In thecomic operaThe Pirates of Penzance,byGilbert and Sullivan,theMajor-General bragsof being able to distinguish works byRaphaelfrom works by Dou andJohan Zoffany.

Dou (as "Gerard Douw" ) is a character inJ. Sheridan Le Fanu's short story "Schalken the Painter". In the 1979BBCtelevision adaptation of this work,Schalcken the Painter,he was played byMaurice Denham.

Dou is portrayed on film byToby JonesinNightwatching(2007).

W. F. Harvey's short story "Old Masters" features a picture by Dou (as Gerhard Dow) as the subject of an ingenious scam. (The story is included in the 2009 Wordsworth Edition omnibus collection of Harvey's stories, "The Beast with Five Fingers".)

A group of boys in Mary Mapes Dodge'sHans Brinker or the Silver Skatesvisit a museum in Amsterdam and see two paintings by "Gerard Douw" -- "The Hermit" and "Evening School."

In the 2023 film, “The Little Mermaid”Dou’s painting, Astronomer by Candlelight, is featured as a page in a book which the mermaid,Ariel,flips though while singing “Part of Your World”.

Sources

• This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain:Chisholm, Hugh,ed. (1911). "Douw, Gerhard".Encyclopædia Britannica.Vol. 8 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 451.
• Baer, Ronni (2000). "The Life and Art of Gerrit Dou". In Wheelock, Arthur K. (ed.).Gerrit Dou 1613–75: Master Painter in the Age of Rembrandt(exhibition catalogue). National Gallery of Art Washington; Yale University Press.ISBN0-89468-248-2.
• Gerrit Dou (1613–1675): Master Painter in the Age of Rembrandt at the National Gallery of Art

External links

• 58 artworks by or after Gerrit Douat theArt UKsite
• Works at WGA
• Works and literature
• Oldandsold.com
• Vermeer and The Delft School,a full text exhibition catalog from The Metropolitan Museum of Art, which has material on Gerrit Dou