Pieter de Hooch
Dutch·1629–1684
Dutch Golden Age painter Pieter de Hooch (1629-1684) mastered intimate domestic interiors with open doorways leading to sunlit courtyards or rooms beyond. His "room-views" depict genteel households with women and children engaged in quiet activities, creating an atmosphere of stillness and intimacy. Art historian Simon Schama called him the provider of "the first sustained image of parental love that European art has shown us." De Hooch was contemporary with Vermeer in Delft's Guild of St. Luke.
De Hooch trained under landscape painter Nicolaes Berchem in Haarlem before working for linen merchant Justus de la Grange, traveling with his patron to The Hague, Leiden, and Delft. He joined the Delft painters' guild in 1655, two years after Vermeer. His finest work dates from the late 1650s and early 1660s when he lived in Delft and early Amsterdam. His masterpiece The Courtyard of a House in Delft hangs at the National Gallery in London. Other important works are at the Rijksmuseum and the National Gallery of Art in Washington. Contrary to legend, de Hooch did not die in a lunatic asylum; records show that was his son.
Notable Works by Pieter de Hooch
23 paintings catalogued with museum locations
W
Woman and Child in a Courtyard
Pieter de Hooch, 1658
National Gallery, London
W
Woman with basket of beans in the kitchen garden
Pieter de Hooch
Kunstmuseum Basel, Basel
T
The morning toilet of a young man
Pieter de Hooch
Pushkin Museum, Moscow
H
Happy drinker
Pieter de Hooch
Gemäldegalerie, Berlin, Berlin
P
Paying the Hostess
Pieter de Hooch
Private Collection, Unknown
W
Woman drinking with soldiers
Pieter de Hooch
Louvre, Paris, Paris
W
Woman and a Child in a Pantry
Pieter de Hooch
Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam
T
Two women with a child in court
Pieter de Hooch
Toledo Museum of Art, Toledo, OH, Toledo
T
Two Soldiers and a Serving Woman with a Trumpeter
Pieter de Hooch
Kunsthaus Zürich, Zurich
T
Tric Trac Players
Pieter de Hooch
Private Collection, Unknown
T
The Visit
Pieter de Hooch
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
T
The Bedroom
Pieter de Hooch
Staatliche Kunsthalle Karlsruhe, Karlsruhe, Karlsruhe
T
Tavern scene with maid trying to fill the glass of a cavalier (The Empty Glass)
Pieter de Hooch
Museum Boijmans van Beuningen, Rotterdam, Rotterdam
S
Soldiers Playing Cards
Pieter de Hooch
Private Collection, Unknown
M
Man Offering a Glass of Wine to a Woman
Pieter de Hooch
State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg
I
Interior with a Mother delousing her Child
Pieter de Hooch
Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam
I
Interior of a Dutch House
Pieter de Hooch
Louvre, Paris, Paris
C
Cardplayers
Pieter de Hooch
Royal Collection, London
A
A Woman with a Baby in Her Lap, and a Small Child
Pieter de Hooch
Private Collection, Unknown
A
A Woman Drinking with Two Men
Pieter de Hooch
National Gallery, London
A
A Woman and a Maid in a Courtyard
Pieter de Hooch
National Gallery, London
A
A woman and a child on a Bleichwiese
Pieter de Hooch
Private Collection, Unknown
A
A Dutch Courtyard
Pieter de Hooch
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Museums with Pieter de Hooch's Work
15 museums display Hooch's works. Click any museum to see visiting info and the specific works they hold.
+2
Private Collection
Unknown, Unknown
5 works on display
A woman and a child on a Bleichwiese
A Woman with a Baby in Her Lap, and a Small Child
The Metropolitan Museum of Art
New York, USA
1 work on display
The Visit
Louvre, Paris
Paris, France
2 works on display
Woman drinking with soldiers
Interior of a Dutch House
National Gallery
London, UK
3 works on display
Woman and Child in a Courtyard
A Woman Drinking with Two Men
State Hermitage Museum
St. Petersburg, Russia
1 work on display
Man Offering a Glass of Wine to a Woman
National Gallery of Art
Washington, D.C., United States
1 work on display
A Dutch Courtyard
Rijksmuseum
Amsterdam, Netherlands
2 works on display
Interior with a Mother delousing her Child
Woman and a Child in a Pantry
Gemäldegalerie, Berlin
Berlin, Germany
1 work on display
Happy drinker
Kunstmuseum Basel
Basel, Switzerland
1 work on display
Woman with basket of beans in the kitchen garden
Museum Boijmans van Beuningen, Rotterdam
Rotterdam, Netherlands
1 work on display
Tavern scene with maid trying to fill the glass of a cavalier (The Empty Glass)
Kunsthaus Zürich
Zurich, Switzerland
1 work on display
Two Soldiers and a Serving Woman with a Trumpeter
Pushkin Museum
Moscow, Russia
1 work on display
The morning toilet of a young man
Royal Collection
London, United Kingdom
1 work on display
Cardplayers
Staatliche Kunsthalle Karlsruhe, Karlsruhe
Karlsruhe, Germany
1 work on display
The Bedroom
Toledo Museum of Art, Toledo, OH
Toledo, US
1 work on display
Two women with a child in court
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About Pieter de Hooch
De Hooch specialized in domestic interiors with characteristic spatial complexity: rooms opening through doorways into sunlit courtyards or further chambers beyond. His quiet scenes of household life—women sewing, servants sweeping, mothers with children—exemplify Dutch Golden Age genre painting at its most serene.
The National Gallery in London holds The Courtyard of a House in Delft. The Rijksmuseum displays A Woman Drinking with Two Men, while the National Gallery of Art in Washington owns masterful examples of his sunlit interiors.
De Hooch and Vermeer were contemporaries in Delft's painters' guild during the late 1650s, both specializing in domestic interiors with subtle light effects. De Hooch pioneered the "doorkijkje" (view through doorways) that Vermeer later refined. Scholars debate who influenced whom, but their artistic dialogue elevated Dutch genre painting.
The Courtyard of a House in Delft (1658) at the National Gallery in London demonstrates his mastery of architectural space and golden Dutch light. A woman and child stand in a brick-paved courtyard, framed by precisely rendered buildings, the mundane transformed into something timeless.
De Hooch's finest work dates from his Delft period, roughly 1654 to 1661, when he lived near Vermeer and painted his most luminous interiors and courtyards. After moving to Amsterdam around 1661, his paintings became darker and more cluttered, generally considered less accomplished than his Delft masterpieces.
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