The Refinement of Genre during the 1660s

In 1654, Ter Borch married Geertruyt Matthys, a wealthy widow. Soon after, they moved to her hometown, Deventer. Through his marriage, Ter Borch became a member of the aristocratic class in this essentially conservative small city.

During the 1660s, Ter Borch continued to refine his representations of social interactions in formal interiors. His success resulted in a group of pictures that have long been considered among the greatest masterpieces of genre painting in what historians refer to as the Dutch “Golden Age” of the 17th-century. These pictures rank, alongside those of Johannes Vermeer of Delft, as the ultimate perfection of the long tradition of formal interiors in which one may glimpse the social habits of the upper class of the Dutch Republic.


Image Detail: Lady at Her Toilette, ca. 1660; Oil on canvas. The Detroit Institute of Arts, Founders Society Purchase, Eleanor Clay Ford Fund, General Membership Fund, Endowment Income Fund and Special Activities Fund. Photo: ©1995 The Detroit Institute of Arts.