About the Artwork
The Letter
between 1650 and 1660
Peter Lely
1618-1680
English
Unknown
Oil on canvas
Unframed: 42 1/2 × 33 3/4 inches (108 × 85.7 cm) Framed: 52 3/4 × 43 7/8 × 3 inches (134 × 111.4 × 7.6 cm)
Paintings
European Painting
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Trent McMath
53.80
This work is in the public domain.
Markings
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Provenance
1920, (Galerie Goudstikker, Amsterdam, Netherlands)
until at least 1926, Julius H. Haass (Detroit, Michigan, USA), by descent to his daughter, Miss Constance Haass [later Mrs. Trent McMath] (Detroit, Michigan, USA)
1953-present, gift to the Detroit Institute of Arts (Detroit, Michigan, USA)
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Provenance pageExhibition History
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The exhibition history of a number of objects in our collection only begins after their acquisition by the museum, and may reflect an incomplete record.
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Catalogue de la Collection Goudstikker a Amsterdam. The Hague, November 1920, no. 72 m (ill.). [as Gabriel Metsu.]
Borenius, T. "Gabriel Metsu." Apollo (February 1926): pp. 83-85 (ill.). [The Love Letter.]
A Century of Progress. Exh. cat., Art Institute of Chicago. Chicago, 1934, p. 17, no. 98.
Bottenwieser, P. Paintings by Old Masters Placed in Museums of Art and Private Collections. Berlin, n.d.
Beckett, R.B. Lely. London, 1951, p. 67, no. 578. [as The Billet Doux.]
Richardson, E.P. "The Letter, by Peter Lely." Art Quarterly 17, no. 1 (1954): pp. 86, 88-89 (ill.).
Robinson, F.W. Gabriel Metsu 1629-1667: A Study of His Place in Dutch Genre Painting of the Golden Age. New York, 1974, pp. 36-37 (fig. 67) [attributed to Gabriel Metsu.]
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Credit Line for Reproduction
Peter Lely, The Letter, between 1650 and 1660, oil on canvas. Detroit Institute of Arts, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Trent McMath, 53.80.
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