Charles Cornelisz. de Hooch, was a Dutch Golden Age landscape painter and etcher.
He became known as Karel de Hooge from being listed in Samuel Ampzing's lof der Haerlem as a painter of ruins, along with Pieter Molyn, Jacob Pinas and Salomon de Bray, who was born in 1597. He is best known today for his so-called grotto paintings. Grotto painting as an independent genre was probably initiated by a group of followers of Cornelis van Poelenburch, which included De Hooch along with Abraham van Cuylenborch and Dirck Stoop. His contemporaries in landscape painting included Esaias and Jan van de Velde, Pieter Dircksz Santvoort, Pieter Molyn and Salomon Ruysdael.
After his Haarlem period he moved to Utrecht, where he died 2 July 1638 leaving underage children. His life can thus be divided in his Haarlem period (from birth up until at least 1628) and his Utrecht period (From 1628 up until his death in 1638). In Utrecht he belonged to a group of painters that included Bartholomeus Breenbergh, Abraham van Cuylenburch, Rombout van Troyen and P. van Hattick.
Charles Cornelisz. de Hooch was married to Claesgen van Thiel (1629-07-11 - 1671-06-20) and they had one son Horatius (? - after 1686) who in turn married Wilhelmina van Swoll.
After he donated a painting to the ‘St. Jobs Gasthuis’ in 1628, he was introduced into the Utrecht Guild of St. Luke in 1633.
