Gerard Dou (1613-1675)As the son of a glass engraver Gerard Dou began by learning to engrave and paint glass. In 1628 he became a pupil of Rembrandt. There he learned the art of depicting contrasting light and dark. It was to become his speciality: Dou's candlelight scenes became especially popular. His other works - he mainly produced genreGenreA 'genre' is a theme in painting. Up to the 16th century, most paintings featured religious subjects. Around 1600 this started to change. Artists began specialising in a particular subject. These new 'genres' were usually not or only partly religious. They included, for example, landscape, still life, architectural painting and history painting. These had long been included in paintings as elements of a composition, but never as the central theme. There is also a genre known as 'genre' painting. This category features works in which people are depicted in their everyday environment. paintings - sold for considerable sums. Dou's accurateMeticulous DouAccording to the biographer, Houbraken, Dou was a slow and careful painter. It was once remarked that he would wait before starting a painting until the dust had settled in his studio. Then no particles would be able to spoil the painting. and detailed manner of painting was typical of the 'fijnschilder' school. One of these 'Leiden fijnschilders' was his pupil Frans van Mieris. In 1665 Dou featured in a one-man exhibition1665 exhibitionIn 1665, twenty-seven works by Gerard Dou were exhibited at the home of the painter Johannes Hannot. All the paintings were from the collection of one person, Leiden art collector Johan de Bye. Dou was 52 in 1665 and his candlelight paintings were world-famous.. He enjoyed an international reputation: various foreign monarchs collected work by him. Yet Dou was never tempted to leave Leiden. He died there in 1675. |
