Courtyard in Delft at Evening: a Woman Spinning

A Courtyard in Delft, acquired by George IV in 1829, is one of de Hoochs earliest treatments of the theme, dating from c.1657-8. It is also one of the most atmospheric in the portrayal of the shadows filling the foreground. Thus, de Hooch contrasts the seated figure seen in shadow with the standing figure who is walking from the sunlight into shadow. On the vertical axis there is a similar shift from the bright blue sky overhead to the darker tones in the lower half.The viewer is invited to enter what is essentially a private world. Both women are preoccupied by their simple domestic tasks. Even so, this private space partakes of a more public context. On the right beyond the house can be seen two towers: the taller one that of the Nieuwe Kerk, where William the Silent, the founder of the Dutch Republic, is buried, and the smaller one that of the Stadthuis. Another important feature of A courtyard in Delft is the close observation of the buildings, both as regards the materials from which they are constructed and the tonal relationships (especially the reds) of their silhouetted forms. Most convincing is the patchy distribution of the whitewash on the brick and the different types of mortar and pointing seen in a varying light. The gabled house flanking the tower of the Nieuwe Kerk can be made out in other courtyard paintings by de Hooch, adding to the sense that the artist devised his compositions within a tightly knit area that he knew intimately. Signed lower left corner: P.D. HOOCH