Gerard Dou

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Gerard Dou (spelling variants Gerrit, Douw, Dow) (April 7, 1613–February 9, 1675) was a Dutch painter.

The Dropsical Woman by Gerrit Dou (1663) Oil on wood, 86 x 67 cm Musée du Louvre, Paris

He was born at Leiden. His first instructor in drawing and design was Bartholomew Dolendo, an engraver; and he afterwards learned the art of glass-painting under Peter Kouwhoorn. At the age of 15 he became a pupil of Rembrandt, with whom he continued for three years. From the great master of the Dutch school he acquired his skill in coloring, and in the more, subtle effects of chiaroscuro; and the style of Rembrandt is reflected in several of his earlier pictures, notably in a portrait of himself at the age of 22, in the Bridge-water House gallery, and in the "Blind Tobit going to meet his Son", at Wardour Castle.

At a comparatively early point in his career, however, he had formed a manner of his own distinct from, and indeed in some respects antagonistic to, that of his master. Gifted with unusual clearness of vision and precision of manipulation, he cultivated a minute and elaborate style of treatment; and probably few painters ever spent more time and pains on all the details of their pictures down to the most trivial. 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.

Notwithstanding the minuteness of his touch, however, the general effect was harmonious and free from stiffness, and his color was always admirably fresh and transparent. He was fond of representing subjects in lantern or candle light, the effects of which he reproduced with a fidelity and skill which no other master has equalled. He frequently painted by the aid of a concave mirror, 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, and represented chiefly subjects in still life. Upwards of 200 are attributed to him, and specimens are to be found in most of the great public collections of Europe.

His chef-d'oeuvre is generally considered to be The Dropsical Woman, in the Louvre. The Evening School, in the Amsterdam Rijksmuseum, is the best example of the candlelight scenes in which he excelled. In the National Gallery, London, favorable specimens are to be seen in the Poulterer's Shop, and a portrait of himself. Dou's pictures brought high prices, and it is said that the art lover Van Spiering of The Hague paid him 1,000 florins a year simply for the right of pre-emption. Dou died in Leiden. His most celebrated pupil was Frans van Mieris the Elder.

Works

• 1623-65: The Night School (Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam)
• 1628: Astronomer (Hermitage Museum, Saint Petersburg)
• 1630s: Old Woman Reading a Lectionary (Rembrandt's Mother) (Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam)
• 1630s: Portrait of a Girl (Manchester Art Gallery, UK)
• 1631: Prince Rupert, (J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles)
• 1635-36: 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 the University of Rochester, New York)
• 1645: The Schoolmaster (Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge)
• 1647: "Still Life With Book and Purse" (J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles)
• 1650s: Self Portrait (Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam)
• 1650s: Self-portrait at the Window (Residenzgalerie, Salzburg)
• 1652: The Quack (Museum Boymans-van Beuningen, Rotterdam)
• 1653: The Violin Player (Liechtenstein Palace, Vienna)
• 1655: Astronomer by Candlelight (J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles)
• 1658: The Young Mother (Mauritshuis, The Hague)
• 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)
• 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 Dalí Foundation)
• 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 the University of Montana, Missoula)

Trivia

In the comic opera the Pirates of Penzance, by Gilbert and Sullivan, the Major-General brags of being able to distinguish works by Raphael from works by Dou.

References

• This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.
• Gerrit Dou (1613-1675): Master Painter in the Age of Rembrandt at the National Gallery of Art