Curiosity

Gerard ter Borch's Curiosity from around 1660-62 is a characteristic example of his refined genre paintings depicting the intimate social rituals of the Dutch upper classes. Ter Borch was the most elegant of Dutch genre painters, specializing in scenes of letter-reading, music-making, and polite conversation among women in luxurious interiors, rendered with an unmatched ability to paint satin and silk.

Ter Borch's oil on canvas displays his legendary facility for rendering fabric textures — particularly the lustrous satin gown — with subtle variations of tone and reflected light that create an almost tactile surface quality.