Sunday, October 23, 2016

Watercolors by Adriaen van Ostade

Adriaen van Ostade
Peasant interior
1673
watercolor
British Museum

The life of Adriaen van Ostade (1610-1685) was long and relatively untroubled, according to his biographer, with one significant exception  "Van Ostade's interest in watercolor came about as a result of the French invasion of Holland in 1672. Van Ostade fled from Haarlem and sought refuge in Amsterdam in the house of the collector, Constantijn Sennepart, where, away from his studio, he took up watercolor painting."

Curators at the British Museum comment that the artist''s earlier representations of Dutch peasant life were rolicking and satirical in tone, in accordance with conventions that prevailed in his day. Yet Van Ostade's peasant-pictures of the 1670s were different  respectful in intention and documentary in effect. Describing the domestic scene below, curators write that "the subtle depiction of the light filtering through the interior has few precedents in the history of watercolor."

Adriaen van Ostade
Peasant interior
1672
watercolor
British Museum

attributed to Adriaen van Ostade
Peasant interior
1670s
watercolor
British Museum

Adriaen van Ostade
Interior of an inn
1673
watercolor
British Museum

Adriaen van Ostade
Peasants playing backgammon
1672
watercolor
British Museum

Adriaen van Ostade
Interior of an inn
1679
watercolor
British Museum

Adriaen van Ostade
Peasants playing backgammon
1672
watercolor
British Museum

Adriaen van Ostade
Peasant smoking
1670s
watercolor
British Museum

Adriaen van Ostade
Peasant standing
1670s
watercolor
British Museum

Adriaen van Ostade
Peasant dancing
1670s
watercolor
British Museum

Adriaen van Ostade
Peasants dancing
1670s
watercolor
British Museum

Adriaen van Ostade
Peasants playing gallet
1673
watercolor
British Museum

Adriaen van Ostade
Village scene
1673
watercolor
British Museum

Adriaen van Ostade
Piper and children
1673
watercolor
British Museum

I am grateful to the British Museum for the excellent reproductions of these watercolors.