Untitled
Adriaen Jansz van Ostade
Description
Gallery Rotation Winter 2013
Adriaen Jansz van Ostade
Netherlands, 1610–1685
Sketch of Peasant Stooping
1630–85
Pen and brown ink
Gift of the Joseph F. McCrindle Collection, 2009/1.510
Van Ostade is known for his drawings and etchings of peasant life, which were also incorporated into his genre scenes (art that takes everyday life as its subject matter) and landscape paintings. Despite the monumentality of the figures in these two works, the similarity of their garments—heavy, long cloaks and large hats— suggests the anonymity of this sort of country-folk.
Subject Matter:
Van Ostade is known for his genre scenes, which depict people engaged in everyday life. This drawing showcases the immediacy of the artist's working method and suggests that he drew the figure from life. A humble peasant is rendered using dense hatching and soft contours. Studies of peasants were popular subjects for genre scenes made during the Dutch Golden Age in the seventeenth-century. Van Ostade was a pupil of both Adriaen Brouwer and Frans Hals, who were Dutch artists specializing in portraits and character studies or tronies. Both artists are notable for their ability to capture the soul and inner personality of their sitters.
Physical Description:
A man is shown bending down and reaching towards the ground with his right hand while holding his left hand closer to his body. His hat obscures his face.
Usage Rights:
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please visit https://umma.umich.edu/request-image/ for more information and to fill out the online Image Rights and Reproductions Request Form.