Adriaen van Ostade, Dutch, 1610-1685
Title: Boors Drinking and Singing
Date: c.1635
Medium: Oil on wood panel
Dimensions:
32.4 x 50.9 cm
Credit Line: Purchased, 1873
Object Number: NGI.32
DescriptionThe scene depicts a group of peasants drinking, smoking and singing in a ramshackle interior. A cat is seated on a heating brazier next to a discarded pipe and some playing cards. The effects of intemperance are evident in the lined faces and bulbous noses of the figures. At the same time they are portrayed with a touch of humour which suggests there is little enmity towards them on the artist’s part.
In a career that spanned over five decades, Adriaen van Ostade produced more than 800 paintings. He is chiefly known for his peasant and ‘low-life’ genre paintings, a field in which he enjoyed a leading position in Holland. Adriaen Brouwer, who may have been his fellow pupil under Frans Hals, prompted him to specialise in this field. Unlike Brouwer, however, Van Ostade placed more emphasis on the gestures of his figures than on their facial characteristics.
Van Ostade was also a prolific draughtsman and printmaker, and his oeuvre includes a number of portraits, too. He had an important influence on painting in his time and employed many pupils, among them Isaack van Ostade and Cornelis Bega.
March 2016
In a career that spanned over five decades, Adriaen van Ostade produced more than 800 paintings. He is chiefly known for his peasant and ‘low-life’ genre paintings, a field in which he enjoyed a leading position in Holland. Adriaen Brouwer, who may have been his fellow pupil under Frans Hals, prompted him to specialise in this field. Unlike Brouwer, however, Van Ostade placed more emphasis on the gestures of his figures than on their facial characteristics.
Van Ostade was also a prolific draughtsman and printmaker, and his oeuvre includes a number of portraits, too. He had an important influence on painting in his time and employed many pupils, among them Isaack van Ostade and Cornelis Bega.
March 2016
ProvenancePurchased, Christie's, 1 March 1873, Executor of the Hon. Marmaduke Constable Maxwell, Terregles, Dumfriesshire sale, lot 111
Label TextA group of peasants are seen drinking, smoking and singing in a ramshackle interior. A cat is seated on a heating brazier next to a discarded pipe and some playing cards. The effects of intemperance are evident in the lined faces and bulbous noses of the ?gures. At the same time, they are treated with a touch of humour. In a career that spanned over five decades, Adriaen van Ostade produced more than 800 paintings. He is chiefly known for his peasant and so-called low-life genre paintings, a field in which he enjoyed a leading position in Holland.