Gerrit Dou (1613-1675)

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Gerrit Dou (also known as Gerard Dou or Dow) was born on April 7, 1613, in Leiden, Netherlands. He was the youngest son of Douwe Jansz de Vries van Arentsvelt, a glazier from Harlingen, and Marritge Jansdr van Rosenburg. His father was a manufacturer of stained glass, which influenced Dou’s early exposure to art and craftsmanship. From an early age, Dou displayed a strong inclination toward painting.

Dou’s formal artistic training began in 1622 when his father sent him to study engraving under Bartholomeus Dolendo. Afterward, he trained for two and a half years with Pieter Couwenhorn, a skilled glass painter. However, due to concerns about his safety while working with glass materials, his father decided to apprentice him to a painter.

At the age of 14, on February 14, 1628, Gerrit Dou became an apprentice to Rembrandt van Rijn, one of the most influential painters of the Dutch Golden Age. Rembrandt lived just 100 meters from Dou’s family home in Leiden. Under Rembrandt’s guidance for three years (until 1631), Dou learned techniques such as impasto (thick application of paint), dramatic chiaroscuro (light and shadow contrasts), and careful draftsmanship. These skills heavily influenced his early works.

Artistic Career

After Rembrandt moved to Amsterdam in 1631, Gerrit Dou developed his own distinctive style that diverged significantly from his teacher’s approach. While Rembrandt focused on large-scale historical and biblical scenes with emotional depth, Dou specialized in small-scale genre paintings characterized by meticulous detail and polished surfaces.

Dou became one of the leading figures among the Leiden fijnschilders (“fine painters”), a group known for their highly detailed and refined works. His paintings often depicted domestic interiors, still lifes, portraits, and candlelit night scenes rendered with extraordinary precision. He is said to have spent days perfecting even small details like a single hand or object within his compositions.

Dou employed innovative techniques to achieve unparalleled realism in his works:

• He used tools such as concave lenses combined with convex mirrors to sharpen perception.
• To ensure accuracy in proportions and perspective, he viewed subjects through frames crossed with silk threads.
• He even manufactured his own fine brushes for intricate detailing.

His works were typically small in size but rich in accessory details such as vegetables, utensils, or furniture that added life-like qualities to the scenes.

Notable Works

Some of Gerrit Dou’s most celebrated paintings include:

• The Dropsical Woman (1663) – Considered one of his masterpieces; it is housed at the Louvre Museum.
• The Dutch Housewife (1650) – Another significant work located at the Louvre.
• The Evening School – A prime example of his candlelit scenes; it is part of the Rijksmuseum collection in Amsterdam.
• A Poulterer’s Shop (1672) – Displayed at the National Gallery in London.
• Self-Portraits – Several self-depictions exist across major collections worldwide.

Dou frequently employed trompe-l’œil effects (“deceive the eye”) by creating “frames within frames,” where viewers look through stone windows into domestic interiors or other spaces. This technique can be seen in works like Man Smoking a Pipe (c. 1650).

Patronage and Recognition

Gerrit Dou achieved considerable fame during his lifetime. His paintings commanded high prices due to their jewel-like quality and labor-intensive execution:

• Pieter Spiering Silvercroon, Swedish Ambassador at The Hague during the mid-1630s, paid him an annual stipend of 500 guilders simply for first refusal rights on new works.
• Queen Christina of Sweden owned eleven paintings by him.
• Cosimo III de’ Medici visited Dou’s studio during travels through Leiden and acquired some pieces now housed at Florence’s Uffizi Gallery.

Despite this success abroad among collectors like royalty and diplomats, Dutch patrons tended toward more classical styles than those offered by fijnschilders like Dou.

Later Life

Dou continued painting throughout his career but gradually shifted focus toward nocturnal candlelit scenes after 1650. These pieces showcased exceptional mastery over light effects using chiaroscuro techniques learned during his apprenticeship under Rembrandt.

He also taught several notable pupils who carried forward aspects of his style:

• Frans van Mieris the Elder
• Gabriël Metsu
• Godfried Schalcken Other students included Carel de Moor and Pieter Cornelisz van Slingelandt.

Gerrit Dou passed away on February 9, 1675, at age 61 in Leiden.

Top Sources Used:

1. Rijksmuseum Amsterdam

   • The Rijksmuseum houses several key works by Gerrit Dou (The Evening School, self-portraits) and provides detailed insights into Dutch Golden Age painters’ lives and techniques.

2. National Gallery London

   • The National Gallery contains examples like A Poulterer’s Shop that highlight Gerrit Dou’s trompe-l’œil methods and genre painting expertise while offering scholarly analysis on these pieces’ significance.

3. Louvre Museum Paris

   • As home to masterpieces like The Dropsical Woman and The Dutch Housewife, the Louvre provides critical information about Gerrit Dou’s artistic evolution within Baroque art traditions alongside biographical context regarding patronage systems during this era.