Adriaen van Ostade

Adriaen van Ostade (1610-1685)

Adriaen van Ostade was born in 1610 in Haarlem where he lived and worked his whole life. According to Arnold HoubrakenArnold HoubrakenAlthough an artist himself, it was as a writer on painting that Arnold Houbraken (1660-1719) achieved fame. His book 'Groote Schouburgh der Nederlandsche konstschilders en schilderessen' was published in 1721. It contains biographies of many 17th-century painters. Despite the occasional errors and juicy anecdotes to enliven the narrative, the book is a major source for art historians., the seventeenth-century historian, Adriaen van Ostade and Adriaen Brouwer were both pupils of Frans Hals. Whether this was the case is now no longer known. In Van Ostade's early paintings of peasant life the influence of Adriaen Brouwer is clearly evident. Throughout his life Van Ostade continued to paint peasants, usually smoking or drinking, in a tavern or a livingroom. He also painted biblical scenes, various portraits and numerous practitioners of professions - some respectable, others not: market vendors, schoolmasters, lawyers and quacks.