Card-Players

Unknown artist after Pieter de Hooch (1629–1684)

19th c. Watercolour, Indian ink

The water colour at the Mikkel Museum is a high-quality close copy of the painting “Card Players” by the Dutch Golden Age master of genre painting, Pieter de Hooch. The painting was acquired by the Louvres (Paris) in 1801, and has since been one of the highlights of the 17th-century Dutch art exposition there.

The watercolour at the Mikkel Museum is remarkable for its technical craftsmanship. The copier has used watercolour – a pretentious technique that requires fast brushwork - instead of oil paint, and paper instead of canvas. Watercolour became popular as a technique at the end of the 18th century and at the beginning of the 19th century, when the components of the paints were improved. In other aspects, the copy is identical with the original even in minor details: it is of the same size, and de Hooch’s signature has been written on the base of the fireplace pillar.

The signature in this case does not mean that the painting was made by Pieter de Hooch, but it is there as an element of the original picture. The original was and is a well-known work in a world famous museum; the copy was inspired by the wish to imitate the masterpiece and to have a copy of the admired painting to oneself.