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Dog at Rest
Gerrit Dou (Dutch, 1613–1675)
1650
Medium/Technique
Oil on panel
Dimensions
16.5 x 21.6 cm (6 1/2 x 8 1/2 in.)
Framed: 32.7 x 37.1 x 7 cm (12 7/8 x 14 5/8 x 2 3/4 in.)
Framed: 32.7 x 37.1 x 7 cm (12 7/8 x 14 5/8 x 2 3/4 in.)
Credit Line
Promised gift of Rose-Marie and Eijk van Otterloo, in support of the Center for Netherlandish Art
Accession NumberL-R 250.2017
OUT ON LOAN
CollectionsEurope
ClassificationsPaintings
Is there a more adorable dog in Dutch art? Half awake, eyes slightly open, the dog has curled up on a shelf for a nap. It nestles against a variety of household objects: an earthenware jug, a bundle of branches, a wicker basket, and a solitary slipper. The artist’s laborious depiction of the dog and its textures—soft prickled fur, wet nose, leathery paws—gives the animal life. Every object demonstrates Dou’s mastery, from the reflection on the jug—its lid badly chipped—to the moss sprinkled on each branch.
ProvenanceJohan Pompe van Meerdervoort (b. about 1735 – d. 1779), Leiden; May 19, 1780, posthumous Meerdervoort sale, Delfos, Leiden, lot 2, sold for 800 fl. to Delpros. Thomas Theodore Cremer (b. 1742 – d. 1815), Rotterdam; April 16, 1816, Cremer estate sale, Leen, Rotterdam, lot 18, sold for 900 fl. to Christian Josi (dealer; b. 1768 – d. 1828). Eppo Jurjans (or Jurriaans; b. 1755), Amsterdam; August 28, 1817, Jurjans sale, Van der Schley, Amsterdam, lot 11, sold for 1199 fl. to Hendrik van Cranenburgh (b. 1754 – d. 1832), Amsterdam [see note 1]. Willem Joseph, Baron van Brienen van de Groote Lindt (b. 1760 - d. 1839), Amsterdam; by descent to his son, Arnoud Willem, Baron van Brienen van de Groote Lindt (b. 1783 - d. 1854); by descent to his son, Willem Diedrick (Thierry) Arnoud Maria, Baron van Brienen van de Groote Lindt (b. 1814 - d. 1863), The Hague [see note 2]; May 8, 1865, Baron van Brienen sale, Le Roy, Paris, lot 6, sold for 22,000 fr. to Lord Holford [see note 3]. Before 1908, Baroness von Rothschild, Frankfurt [see note 4]. J. and S. Goldschmidt (dealer), Frankfurt; December 7, 1927, sold by Goldschmidt to Nita (Mrs. H. J. Lutcher) Stark (b. 1890 - d. 1939), Orange, TX [see note 5]; by descent to her husband, H. J. Lutcher Stark (b. 1887 – d. 1965); passed to the Nelda C. and H. J. Lutcher Stark Foundation, Orange, TX; May 25, 2005, Stark Foundation sale, Christie's, New York, lot 12, sold to Johnny van Haeften, Ltd., London; 2005, sold by Johnny van Haeften to Eijk and Rose-Marie van Otterloo, Marblehead, MA.
NOTES:
[1] The buyer information for the early sales is according to handwritten annotations in the catalogues.
[2] John Smith, Catalogue Raisonné of the Most Eminent Dutch, Flemish, and French Painters, vol. 1 (London, 1829) notes this painting was in the Baron van Brienen van de Grootelindt collection. A wax seal from the van Brienen van de Groote Lindt family is on the back of the painting.
[3] Possibly Robert Stayner Holford (b. 1808 – d. 1892), Dorchester House, Park Lane, London and Westonbirt, Gloucestershire.
[4] According to Cornelis Hofstede de Groot, Catalogue Raisonné of the Works of the Most Eminent Dutch Painters of the Seventeenth Century, vol. 1 (London, 1908), cat. no. 382, the painting was “in the collection of the late Baroness von Rothschild, Frankfort”. This may refer to Baroness Charlotte von Rothschild (b. 1807 – d. 1859), Frankfurt, or Louise von Rothschild (b. 1820 – d. 1894), Frankfurt.
[5] According to the 2005 Christie’s catalogue.
NOTES:
[1] The buyer information for the early sales is according to handwritten annotations in the catalogues.
[2] John Smith, Catalogue Raisonné of the Most Eminent Dutch, Flemish, and French Painters, vol. 1 (London, 1829) notes this painting was in the Baron van Brienen van de Grootelindt collection. A wax seal from the van Brienen van de Groote Lindt family is on the back of the painting.
[3] Possibly Robert Stayner Holford (b. 1808 – d. 1892), Dorchester House, Park Lane, London and Westonbirt, Gloucestershire.
[4] According to Cornelis Hofstede de Groot, Catalogue Raisonné of the Works of the Most Eminent Dutch Painters of the Seventeenth Century, vol. 1 (London, 1908), cat. no. 382, the painting was “in the collection of the late Baroness von Rothschild, Frankfort”. This may refer to Baroness Charlotte von Rothschild (b. 1807 – d. 1859), Frankfurt, or Louise von Rothschild (b. 1820 – d. 1894), Frankfurt.
[5] According to the 2005 Christie’s catalogue.