Domestic life. Leisure and care

Pieter de Hooch · 1658/1660

We begin in a room by De Hooch. Doorways connect several spaces, while relations between adults and children give the calculated perspective an everyday purpose. The home becomes a place of movement and care.

Pieter de Hooch · 1658/1660

We move from the room into a courtyard. Comparing two works by De Hooch shows how the positions of a child and an adult woman organise the space of family life.

Pieter de Hooch · 1658/1660

In another courtyard, adults relax at a table while a child carries a brazier. This inviting scene raises a specific question: who has leisure here, and whose work makes it possible?

Gerard ter Borch the Younger · c. 1658

Ter Borch shows a visit to a comfortably furnished home. Dress, gestures and distances between people suggest rules of social interaction. We distinguish visible actions from expectations prompted by the title.

Jean Honoré Fragonard · c. 1775

Fragonard gathers a visit to a child into a close group. Compare it with De Hooch’s orderly interiors. A change in the rhythm of painting alters our impression of human closeness.

Jean Siméon Chardin · 1747

Chardin shows food being prepared for someone recovering from illness. The patient is absent from the painting. The objects gathered on the table and the woman’s concentrated work convey the act of care.

Jean Siméon Chardin · probably 1733/1734

A young man blows a soap bubble while a smaller child watches from behind the sill. After scenes of care, we see how a game can hold two people’s attention. One careless movement could end this fragile spectacle.

Jean Honoré Fragonard · c. 1769

Fragonard’s young reader attends to her book rather than addressing the viewer. We examine how he conveys concentration, then compare her with Corot’s reader, painted a century later.

Camille Corot · c. 1870

Corot’s book remains beside the woman, but her attention has shifted. A comparison with Fragonard shows how differently painters can treat the same object.

Pierre-Auguste Renoir · 1875–76

The piano introduces another activity associated with training and leisure. Renoir makes music visible through posture, hands and the instrument’s construction; the viewer supplies the sound.

Pierre-Auguste Renoir · 1879

Sewing demands concentration, like reading or music, but can also be a household duty. We examine Renoir’s gestures and setting while considering the different possibilities of skill, leisure and necessary work.

Georges Lemmen · 1891

Lemmen paints his own sister. Knowing the sitter well adds another question to our exploration of private life: how did the artist portray his sister? We look to pose and technique for an answer.

Jean Siméon Chardin · 1738

We return to Chardin and turn to kitchen work. Things requiring preparation and care occupy the space beside a person. The picture’s stillness lets us examine an activity often left outside formal representations of the home.

Pierre-Auguste Renoir · 1877–79

Renoir shows a laundress during a brief pause. Compare her with his woman at the piano. He gives both figures close attention, although their activities occupy different places in domestic life.

Camille Pissarro · 1895

Pissarro gives mending clothes sustained attention. After the elegant interiors, we can see how much everyday effort is needed to keep things in use.

Camille Pissarro · 1882

We end at a well, where household life extends beyond the walls of a home. Water is needed for cooking, washing and care. The woman and child return us to the beginning of the tour: daily comfort depends on someone’s time and work.