Pieter de Hooch 1629-1684

Although not as well known today as his contemporaries Vermeer and Rembrandt, de Hooch was also a 17th-century Dutch painter of realistic family scenes and architecture rendered in perspective. The director of the Wadsworth Atheneum, Sutton has written an accessible monograph that, updates his earlier catalogue raisonn?, Pieter de Hooch: Complete Edition (LJ 11/15/80), and serves as the catalog for a de Hooch exhibition appearing in London and Hartford. A 75-page text covering the artist's life and techniques and themes of his work is followed by nearly 100 pages presenting plates of works in the show; eight entries bring the catalog raisonn? up to date. Sutton has achieved the rare feat of creating a work that is both a significant addition to scholarship and a reader-friendly introduction for those not already familiar with the artist. Recommended for specialized art and academic libraries and larger public libraries.