Two children watch from a yard behind a picket fence as an officer escorts a youngman towards a…

De Gauwdief

Artist Jan Theodoor Toorop (Dutch, 1858 - 1928)

Date1884

MediumOil on canvas

DimensionsCanvas: 35 1/2 × 63 inches (90.2 × 160 cm)
Framed: 36 3/4 × 64 1/8 × 2 1/4 inches (93.3 × 162.9 × 5.7 cm)

Credit LineMuseum purchase.

Object number1915.2

On View

On view

CopyrightThe images and text contained on this page are owned by Telfair Museums or used by the Museum with permission from the owners. Unauthorized reproduction, transmission or display of these materials is prohibited with the exception of items deemed “fair use” as defined by U.S. and international copyright laws.Label TextA relatively large and detailed work painted with lively colors, Jan Toorop’s De Gauwdief also contains a strong narrative component with a moral message. The painting’s title explains its quiet drama: behind a picket fence that cuts across the picture plane, a uniformed officer escorts a captive teenage boy to the police station. Two young brothers watch intently, as does their concerned father, while nearby a toddler sits on the ground, unaware of the action. De Gauwdief was the only genre picture by a Dutch artist to enter the Telfair’s collection during Gari Melchers’ tenure as fine arts advisor to the museum, despite Melchers’ strong ties to Holland.

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