Provenance
Possibly S.J. Stinstra collection, Amsterdam; possibly (sale, S.J. Stinstra, Amsterdam, 1822, no. 86).[1] William Waldegrave, Admiral Lord Radstock [1753-1825]; (sale, Christie's, 12-13 May 1826, 2nd day, no. 14); George Granville Leveson-Gower, 2nd marquess of Stafford and 1st duke of Sutherland [1783-1833], Stafford House, London; by inheritance to his son, George Granville Sutherland-Leveson-Gower, 2nd duke of Sutherland [1786-1861], Stafford House; (Emery Rutley, London), in 1846;[2] Morant.[3] Robert Field, London; (sale, Christie, Manson & Woods, London, 6 June 1856, no. 520). Charles Scarisbrick [d. 1860], Scarisbrick Hall, Lancashire; (his sale, Christie, Manson & Woods, London, 10 May 1861, no. 119); (Francis Nieuwenhuys, London);[4] Adrian John Hope [1811-1863], London; (his estate sale, Christie, Manson & Woods, London, 30 June 1894, no. 32); (Charles J. Wertheimer, London and Paris); (Charles Sedelmeyer, Paris); sold 30 July 1894 to Peter A.B. Widener, Lynnewood Hall, Elkins Park, Pennsylvania; inheritance from Estate of Peter A.B. Widener by gift through power of appointment of Joseph E. Widener, Elkins Park, Pennsylvania; gift 1942 to NGA.
[1] Cornelis Hofstede de Groot, _A Catalogue Raisonné of the Works of the Most Eminent Dutch Painters of the Seventeenth Century_, 8 vols., trans. Edward G. Hawke, London, 1907-1927: 1:498, no. 78, includes a reference to this sale in his provenance of _The Bedroom_. The De Hooch painting in that sale, however, need not necessarily refer to NGA 1942.9.33, since other versions of the composition exist.
[2] According to a note by John Smith contained in Hofstede de Groot's typescript supplement, ad. no. 78, to Hofstede de Groot, _A Catalogue Raisonné of the Works of the Most Eminent Dutch Painters of the Seventeenth Century_, 8 vols., trans. Edward G. Hawke, London, 1907-1927, in the Rijksbureau voor Kunsthistorische Documentatie, The Hague.
[3] The Getty Provenance Index indicates that Rutley purchased the painting from Sutherland for Morant, but also notes that the entry for the painting in Ben P.J. Broos et al., _Great Dutch Paintings from America_ (Exh. cat., Mauritshuis, The Hague; Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, 1990-1991: no. 35) has Morant buying for Rutley.
[4] According to the Getty Provenance Index, Christie's copy of the 1861 sale catalogue is marked "FN" and Peter C. Sutton, _Pieter de Hooch: Complete Edition with a Catalogue Raisonné_, Oxford, 1980: no. 40B, gives the buyer as "Nieuwenhuys."
Accession Number
1942.9.33
Medium
oil on canvas
Dimensions
overall: 51 x 60 cm (20 1/16 x 23 5/8 in.) | framed: 73 x 82.6 x 8.9 cm (28 3/4 x 32 1/2 x 3 1/2 in.)
Classification
Painting
Credit Line
Widener Collection
Tags
Painting Baroque (1600–1750) Oil Painting Canvas Dutch
Background & Context
Background Story
The Bedroom is one of de Hooch's most intimate interiors, depicting a domestic scene in which the private space of the bedroom becomes the subject of a carefully constructed perspective composition. The bed, the window, and the doorway are arranged along receding lines that draw the viewer's eye into the depth of the room, creating a spatial experience that is both intimate and expansive. The 1658/1660 date places this in de Hooch's Delft period, when he was producing his most accomplished interiors under the influence of the Delft school of perspective painting that also produced Vermeer.
Cultural Impact
De Hooch's bedroom paintings are among the most spatially innovative works in Dutch Golden Age painting because they take the most private room in the house and transform it into a demonstration of perspective and light. The bedroom is not just a setting for a genre scene but a constructed space that reveals de Hooch's mastery of architectural perspective and his understanding of how light moves through a domestic interior.
Why It Matters
The Bedroom is de Hooch's perspective applied to the most private domestic space: a bedroom transformed by light, lines, and spatial construction into a demonstration of how the most intimate room in the house can become a work of art. The painting proves that perspective is not just a technical skill but a way of understanding space itself.
