| An important exponent of genre subjects in Utrecht, Duck did not follow the style of his purported teacher, J. C. Droochsloot of Utrecht (a specialist in low-life and street scenes) but rather was inspired by the work of Anthonie Palamedesz, Pieter Codde, Willem Duyster, and Simon Kick - all active in Amsterdam and all painters of finely rendered, relatively small-scale guardroom scenes, merry companies, and images of taverns or domestic activities. Little is known about Duck's career. He is listed in the records of the Utrecht St. Luke's Guild in 1621 as an apprentice portraitist and is noted as a master by 1630/32, though he may well have been independent by 1626. In 1629 we know Duck gave a painting of a musical company to St. Hiob's Inn in Utrecht. In 1636 Duck's paintings were included among the works sold in a lottery held by the Haarlem guild, which suggests Duck had moved to Haarlem by that year. He is probably the painter noted in the Haarlem guild records of 1636 as well. In 1643 and 1646 he is noted in Utrecht; and from 1656 to 1660 he is recorded in The Hague, where one document lists his age as sixty in the year 1660. Sometime after 1660 he returned to Utrecht, where he remained until his death. Scholars point to some influence of the Utrecht Caravaggisti in his works, but more important was the influence of the Amsterdam genre painters. His main activity runs from 1620 to the 1650s. He borrowed motifs from other artists such as Pieter Codde. |
