Gerard ter Borch: 10 works

'Gerard ter Borch treated the routine chore of milking in a straightforward manner, rejecting the humorous themes often favored by seventeenth-century Dutch genre painters. He was especially skilled at rendering the textures and surfaces of objects like those found in the foreground: the roughly hewn stool, the wooden basin filled with water, the chipped ceramic crock, and the shiny metal hinges of the buckets.'

'Gerard ter Borch's paintings are noted for their subtlety of composition, close attention to detail, and delicate color.'

'Gerard ter Borch rendered this delicate subject matter so subtly that some confusion originated about nature of the work.'

'The artist who best captured the refinement of the wealthy bourgeoisie in the second half of the century was Gerard ter Borch.'

'Ter Borch's subdued and rather melancholy portrait contrasts sharply with the portraits that Verspronck painted.'

'Gerard ter Borch situates the quiet, reflective activity of letter-writing in the traditionally boisterous environment of the guard room.'

'Here, as in many of ter Borch's pictures, the relationship between the figures is deliberately ambiguous.'

'Gerard ter Borch always set a mood, creating a subtle psychological interplay between the people in his intimate paintings.'

'He was one of three children, all of whom were trained by their father (also an artist) and pursued artistic careers. Here the boy has much in common with portraits of Gerard's half-brother Moses, while the woman reading the letter may be the artist's step-sister Gesina ter Borch.'

'One of the great masters of seventeenth-century Dutch scenes of everyday life, or "genre painting," Gerard ter Borch created small-scale works characterized by a rich treatment of fabrics and the subtle drama played out by the figures.'