SORGH, Hendrick Maertensz. - b. ~1610 Rotterdam, d. 1670 Rotterdam - WGA

SORGH, Hendrick Maertensz.

(b. ~1610 Rotterdam, d. 1670 Rotterdam)

Hendrick Maertensz. Sorgh (Sorch; de Sorch), Dutch painter. His father, Maerten Claesz. Rochusse (or Rokes), a market bargeman, was nicknamed ‘de Sorch’ (Dut.: ‘careful’) after his manner of handling cargo; Hendrick Sorgh held the official post of market barge captain for the Rotterdam-Dordrecht line from 1638 until his death.

According to Arnold Houbraken Sorgh studied in Antwerp under David Teniers the Younger and in Rotterdam under Willem Buytewech. Although there is little documentary evidence to support either apprenticeship, Teniers’ was to remain a lasting influence upon Sorgh throughout his career both in style and choice of subject matter.

Sorgh returned to Rotterdam by 1630, where he is recorded as drawing up his will. It would appear that he remained for the rest of his career in Rotterdam where he became one of the leading proponents of genre painting along with his contemporaries, the two Saftleven brothers, Cornelis and Herman. By 1637 Sorgh is listed as a master of the Guild of Saint Luke in Rotterdam, and in 1669, the year before his death, he was appointed as Dean of the Guild.

A Kitchen

This scene, representing two kitchen maids working in the bright light of a tall window, is a typical domestic scene by Hendrick Sorgh. A barely seen amorous couple are squeezed in between the maids. The painter devoted close attention to the still-life elements on the cabinet by the window and across the foreground.

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An Interior Scene

The painting depicts an interior scene with two peasants eating herrings and drinking.

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Interior with Peasants Playing Cards

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Sailing Vessels in a Strong Wind

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Tavern Interior with Drinkers and Smokers

This painting shows a tavern interior with a group of merry drinkers and smokers congregating around a table. It was painted in the style of the peasant genre scenes by Teniers and Brouwer.

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The Lute Player

The Lute Player exemplifies Sorgh’s approach to fashionable imagery in his later years. He depicts a young dandy with a double-necked lute serenading the unimpressed recipient of his affections in a gated veranda before an urban setting. The painting is obviously replete with references to love and courtship. Playing musical instruments was long considered indispensable to fostering Eros and in this sense, Sorgh’s foppish, lute player is entirely conventional.

Suggested listening (streaming mp3, 2 minutes):

Franz Schubert: An die Laute (To the Lute) D 905

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