The Bedroom
Pieter de Hooch·1658/1660
Historical Context
De Hooch's Bedroom from 1658-60 depicts the private interior space of a Dutch household with his characteristic treatment of filtered light, receding spatial planes, and the quiet human activity of domestic life. The bedroom was a more intimate and private space than de Hooch's typical courtyards and kitchen settings, and his treatment of it shows the same attention to the geometry of light and shadow that characterized his best Delft work. The open door in the background leading to another room — the characteristic 'doorkijkje' (view through) of Dutch interior painting — creates the spatial depth that was one of de Hooch's primary compositional resources.
Technical Analysis
De Hooch's oil on canvas masterfully renders interior space through receding doorways and carefully observed natural light, creating depth through linear perspective and tonal gradation from warm foreground to cool distance.
Provenance
Possibly S.J. Stinstra collection, Amsterdam; possibly (sale, S.J. Stinstra, Amsterdam, 1822, no. 86).[1] William Waldegrave, Admiral Lord Radstock [1753-1825]; (sale, Christie's, 12-13 May 1826, 2nd day, no. 14); George Granville Leveson-Gower, 2nd marquess of Stafford and 1st duke of Sutherland [1783-1833], Stafford House, London; by inheritance to his son, George Granville Sutherland-Leveson-Gower, 2nd duke of Sutherland [1786-1861], Stafford House; (Emery Rutley, London), in 1846;[2] Morant.[3] Robert Field, London; (sale, Christie, Manson & Woods, London, 6 June 1856, no. 520). Charles Scarisbrick [d. 1860], Scarisbrick Hall, Lancashire; (his sale, Christie, Manson & Woods, London, 10 May 1861, no. 119); (Francis Nieuwenhuys, London);[4] Adrian John Hope [1811-1863], London; (his estate sale, Christie, Manson & Woods, London, 30 June 1894, no. 32); (Charles J. Wertheimer, London and Paris); (Charles Sedelmeyer, Paris); sold 30 July 1894 to Peter A.B. Widener, Lynnewood Hall, Elkins Park, Pennsylvania; inheritance from Estate of Peter A.B. Widener by gift through power of appointment of Joseph E. Widener, Elkins Park, Pennsylvania; gift 1942 to NGA. [1] Cornelis Hofstede de Groot, _A Catalogue Raisonné of the Works of the Most Eminent Dutch Painters of the Seventeenth Century_, 8 vols., trans. Edward G. Hawke, London, 1907-1927: 1:498, no. 78, includes a reference to this sale in his provenance of _The Bedroom_. The De Hooch painting in that sale, however, need not necessarily refer to NGA 1942.9.33, since other versions of the composition exist. [2] According to a note by John Smith contained in Hofstede de Groot's typescript supplement, ad. no. 78, to Hofstede de Groot, _A Catalogue Raisonné of the Works of the Most Eminent Dutch Painters of the Seventeenth Century_, 8 vols., trans. Edward G. Hawke, London, 1907-1927, in the Rijksbureau voor Kunsthistorische Documentatie, The Hague. [3] The Getty Provenance Index indicates that Rutley purchased the painting from Sutherland for Morant, but also notes that the entry for the painting in Ben P.J. Broos et al., _Great Dutch Paintings from America_ (Exh. cat., Mauritshuis, The Hague; Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, 1990-1991: no. 35) has Morant buying for Rutley. [4] According to the Getty Provenance Index, Christie's copy of the 1861 sale catalogue is marked "FN" and Peter C. Sutton, _Pieter de Hooch: Complete Edition with a Catalogue Raisonné_, Oxford, 1980: no. 40B, gives the buyer as "Nieuwenhuys."
