PIETER DE HOOCH (or HOOGH), pe ter de hen (hog), Dutch painter: b. about 1630; d. about 1681. Very little is known of the life of this painter, of whom no authenti cated portrait exists and a number of con temporary Pieter de Hoochs have added con fusion to the various printed accounts. His birthplace is unknown, but from documentary evidence he seems to have been living at The Hague from 1653 to 1655, where he was em ployed as servant to a merchant, Justus de la Grange and painted pictures as he had oppor tunity. He is recorded, 20 Sept. 1655 as a member of the Painters' Guild of Saint Luke at Delft Two years later he is lost sight of and remains in obscurity until he is found in Am sterdam in 1668. Here he came under the influ ence of Rembrandt, an influence of highest im portance to his art. No picture of de Hooch is dated later than 1677 and it is assumed that he died shortly afterward. He is a painter of genre subjects, choosing for the most part Dutch interiors, though there exist a number of ex terior scenes — scenes of cottage life outdoors, where the landscape features are ably handled.
Though several of his pictures exhibit animated groups of people, he for the most part relegates the human element to a subordinate position and paints sunlight as his principal object. His rep utation has increased in recent years; the Eng lish, who possess many of his best works, being earliest in showing their appreciation. His greatest works are 'The Country and 'The Battery) in the Ryks Museum, Amster, dam; the 'Card Party' in the Louvre and the 'Dutch Interior> in the National Gallery. An 'Interior) is in the Metropolitan Museum, New York and other examples in the private col lections of C. F. Yerkes of Chicago and H. 0. Havemeyer, New York.