 Pieter de Hooch (Dutch, 1629–1684) A Musical Conversation, 1674 Oil on canvas Purchase, 1971 (3798.1) Genre scenes featuring happy couples in ordered
domestic interiors typify the work of Pieter de Hooch, a
Dutch painter working in the tradition of the Leiden
fijnshilders. This group of artists, which included Gerrit
Dou and Frans van Mieris, created paintings that
scrupulously replicated the natural world.
In this painting, two couples prepare to perform under
the gaze of a personification of Venus, the goddess of
love, whose presence at the right of the composition
hints at the romantic relationship between the men
and women. and the play of light
upon them.True to the style of the fijnschilders, the
artist has paid great attention to the figures’ costumes,
the surface of the instruments, and the play of light
upon them. |