Updated 07 March 2025
On Display Special Exhibition Wing
On Display
Special Exhibition Wing
Still Life with a Boy Blowing Soap-bubbles
| Date | c. 1635-36 |
|---|---|
| Materials and Techniques | oil on panel |
| Size（cm） | 48 x 39.7 |
| Inscriptions | Signed (G and D in monogram) lower right on edge of table: G DOV |
| Credit Line | Purchased |
| Category | Paintings |
| Collection Number | P.1981-0001 |
The soap-bubbles, skull, hourglass, feathered cap and gourd and other still-life elements shown in this work indicate that its subject is vanitas, the emptiness and ephemeral quality of man's existence. This work differs slightly from standard vanitas images as the boy blowing soap-bubbles has been fitted with the wings of angel. This motif indicates the layering of a religious theme over the standard vanitas imagery. Thought to have been painted relatively early in Dou's painting career, during the years 1635-36, the work clearly exhibits the compositional forms of his earlier interior scenes. The realistic depiction of still-life elements floating against the dark reaches of an interior setting is typical of Dou's work. (Source: Masterpieces of the National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo, 2009, cat. no. 33)
Provenance
Countess A. Sparre, Stockholm (probably acquired in France in the 18th centry); On loan to Mauritshuis, The Hague, before 1935; G. A. Hagemann, Bjersjöholm, Sweden; His daughter, Fru Anne-Lise Lembke; David Carritt Ltd., London; Purchased by the NMWA, 1981.
Exhibition History
- 1884
- Stockholm, 0 1884 - 0 1884
- 1980
- Ten Paintings by Gerard Dou, David Camitt Ltd., London, 0 1980 - 0 1980, cat. no.3, repr.
- 1990
- The Silent Dialogue: Still Life in the West and Japan, Shizuoka Prefectural Museum of Art, Shizuoka, 0 1990 - 0 1990, cat. no. 1-2, repr.
- 1996
- The Crossing Visions: European and Modern Japanese Art from the Collections of The National Museum of Western Art & The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo, National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo, 20 July 1996 - 8 September 1996, cat. no. 60
- 2003
- Rembrandt and the Rembrandt School: The Bible, Mythology and Ancient History, National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo, 13 September 2003 - 14 December 2003, cat. no. 56
Bibliography
- 1901
- Martin, Wilhelm. Het leven en de werken van Gerrit Dou beschouwd in verband met het Schildersleven van zijn tija. Leiden, 1901, no. 267.
- 1902
- Martin, Wilhelm. Gerard Dou. London, 1902, no. 194.
- 1907
- Hofstede de Groot, Cornelis. Beschreibendes und kritisches Verzeichnis der Werke der hervorragendsten holländischen Maler des 17. Jahrhunderts. vol. 1, Esslingen, 1907, pp. 386-387, no. 136.
- 1908
- Hofstede de Groot, Cornelis. A Catalogue Raisonné of the Most Eminent Dutch Painters of the Seventeenth Century. vol. 1, London, 1908, p. 391, no. 136.
- 1911
- Granberg, Olof. Inventaire Général des Trésors d'Art en Suède. Stockholm, 1911, vol. 1, no. 94, vol. 2, pl. 56.
- 1913
- Martin, Wilhelm. Gerard Dou (Klassiker der Kunst 24). Stuttgart; Berlin, 1913, pp. 88, 183, repr.
- 1914
- Bangel, R. Cicerone. 1914, p. 323.
- 1980
- Kiston, Michael. Ten Paintings by Gerard Dou at David Carritt. The Burlington Magazine. vol. CXXII, no. 933, Dec. 1980, pp. 848-849, repr.
- 1981
- 1983
- Annual Bulletin of the National Museum of Western Art. No. 16 (1981), 1983, Arikawa, Haruo. On the New Acquisitions 1981. pp. 6-7, Catalogue of the New Acquisitions. p. 16, col. repr.
- 1983
- Masterpieces of the National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo. Tokyo, The National Museum of Western Art, 1983 (Japanese, preface in Japanese and English), no. 23, repr.
- 1983
- Gazette des Beaux-Arts. ser. 6, tome 101, March 1983, "Chronique des Arts", p. 59, no. 332, repr.
- 1989
- Masterpieces of the National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo. Tokyo, The National Museum of Western Art, 1989 (Japanese, preface in Japanese and English), no. 25, repr.
- 1989
- Kobayashi-Sato, Yoriko. Catalogue of Dutch and Flemish Paintings in Japan I. Annual Report Bridgestone Museum of Art & Ishibashi Museum of Art. no. 37 (1988), 1989, p. 41, no. 9, repr.
- 1990
- Catalogue of painting acquisitions: 1979-1989. Tokyo, The National Museum of Western Art, 1990, pp. 30-32, repr.
- 1990
- The Silent Dialogue: Still Life in the West and Japan (exh. cat.). Shizuoka Prefectural Museum of Art, ed. [Shizuoka], Shizuoka Prefectural Museum of Art, 1990, pp. 29, 200, cat. no. 1-2, col. repr.
- 2006
- Masterpieces of The National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo. Tokyo, The National Museum of Western Art; Tokyo, The Western Art Foundation, 2006 (Japanese, preface in Japanese and English), no. 33, col. repr.
- 2009
- Masterpieces of The National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo. Tokyo, The National Museum of Western Art; Tokyo, The Western Art Foundation, 2009, no. 33, col. repr.
- 2013
- Masterpieces: The National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo. Tokyo, The Western Art Foundation, 2013 (Japanese, preface in Japanese and English), no. 47, col. repr.
- 2018
- Kofuku, Akira. Catalogue of Dutch and Flemish Paintings, The National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo. [Tokyo], The National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo; The Western Art Foundation, 2018, pp. 112-115, no. 32, col. repr.