Pieter de Hooch Rotterdam 1629 - 1684 Amsterdam

In 1804 transferred from the Residenz of the Kurfurstbischoff, Würzburg, to Schleissheim;
Bayerische Staatsgemälde-Sammlungen, Königliche Gemäldegalerie, Schleissheim, old inv. no. 414, in the catalogue of 1885, under no. 459, 1914 and 1919, under no. 3812;
Given in exchange to Eduart Plietszch, Berlin, 1936;
Dr. Bolzani, Berlin, 1936;
Anonymous sale, London, Sotheby's, December 12, 2002.

G. Parthey, Deutscher Bildersaal, Verzeichnis der in Deutschland vorhandenen Öldbilder verstorbener Maler aller Schulen, Berlin 1863 - 64, vol. 1, p. 632, under no. 13;
C. Hofstede de Groot, 'Proeve kritishe beschrijving van het werk van Pieter de Hooch', in Oud Holland no. 10, 1892, pp. 177-191, no. 82;
A. von Wurzbach, Niederländische Kunstler-Lexikon, Vienna 1906, vol. 1, p. 717:
C. Hofstede de Groot, A Catalogue Raisonné of the Most Eminent Dutch Painters of the Seventeenth Century, vol. 1, London 1907, p. 489, under no. 42;
Schleissheim, Royal Picture Gallery, Katalog, Munich 1914, p.122, under no. 3812;
C. Brière - Misme, 'Tableaux inédits ou peu connus de Pieter de Hooch', in Gazette des Beaux Arts, November 1927, p. 284, footnote no. 3;
H. van der Buchs, Pieter de Hooch. Des Meisters Gemalde, Klassiker der Kunst, Berlin-Leipzig 1929, p. 157, reproduced p. 287;
P. C. Sutton, Pieter de Hooch, Oxford 1980, p. 111, cat. no. 125, plate no. 128, as whereabouts unknown.

De Hooch's favorite theme is this type of elegant Dutch interior featuring women and children who epitomize the Dutch domestic ideal.  In this picture, a mother has just finished nursing her infant, while her older daughter stands by her side, and mimics her mother's caring gestures toward the cat she holds.  Behind them, the maid has just entered the room, and is carrying a bucket of water.  Several details indicate that we are dealing with a rather wealthy family of burghers: the floor is made of marble tiles, the mother is wearing a pearl necklace, and at least three paintings can be seen hanging on the walls. 

This picture is included in Peter Sutton's monograph on the artist, and he dates it to the period 1675-1680, which corresponds to de Hooch's last and most mature artistic phase (see Literature).  Earlier in his career, de Hooch worked with a brighter palette, and focused on dramatic light effects and perspectival views.  The latter two elements remained points of interest for the rest of his career, which is attested by the present picture.  The figure types and broad treatment of passages such as the mother's dress are characteristic of de Hooch's late works, and are reminiscent of his roughly contemporary Mother and Child by a Cradle, now in the Detroit Institute of Arts (89.39).