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Lot Essay
Although traditionally admired - Hofstede de Groot wrote that he 'must be considered among the great painters of the seventeenth century' - Isack van Ostade's painted oeuvre has not been studied in great depth by scholars in recent years. Indeed the catalogue of his paintings by Hofstede de Groot published in 1910 remains the fundamental study of his paintings. The present work is no. 77 of Hofstede's catalogue raisonn.
Although there are a number of paintings by the previous generation of Dutch artists depicting travellers, van Ostade made the halt at a country inn into something of a speciality. The theme is to be found in the work of Pieter de Molijn and Salomon van Ruysdael, but van Ostade, influenced by the delicacy of handling of Pieter van Laer, imbued it with a sense of romanticism that remained dominant in his work. The strongly focused lighting is a technique found in the earlier of his depictions of the theme, for example in the Country Tavern with a horse at a trough of 1643 in the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam.
Van Ostade's acute realisation of animals and people, and his ability to reproduce the limitless variety of a busy country scene, was seemingly inspired by a fresh, never jaded, but rather always witty approach. He ranks as one of the most talented Dutch artists working in the tradition of Pieter Brueghel the Elder. His manner of execution - working in dense detail - created a texture that brings to mind the surfaces of a print by Rembrandt, whose earliest dated etched landscapes are of 1641.
The impression of a vivacious record of daily life was no doubt conveyed by a studied use of an extensive repertory probably recorded in drawings to which the artist turned while making his compositions. A favourite motif was the standing grey cart-horse, as in the centre of the present composition; it is practically a hallmark of his art.
Hofstede in his catalogue lists over three hundred and fifty paintings by the artist. That this oeuvre was the product of some ten years of activity in Haarlem gives an idea of the concentrated intensity of the artist's brief career, for he was to die at the age of twenty-eight in 1649. Nevertheless the appearance of his work on the market is rare. This was also the case in the early part of the nineteenth century, when many more Old Masters were available for sale, to the extent that John Smith, the dealer and connnoisseur, commented in 1829: 'Pictures of the first quality by this master are exceedingly rare, and proportionally high in price.'
Although there are a number of paintings by the previous generation of Dutch artists depicting travellers, van Ostade made the halt at a country inn into something of a speciality. The theme is to be found in the work of Pieter de Molijn and Salomon van Ruysdael, but van Ostade, influenced by the delicacy of handling of Pieter van Laer, imbued it with a sense of romanticism that remained dominant in his work. The strongly focused lighting is a technique found in the earlier of his depictions of the theme, for example in the Country Tavern with a horse at a trough of 1643 in the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam.
Van Ostade's acute realisation of animals and people, and his ability to reproduce the limitless variety of a busy country scene, was seemingly inspired by a fresh, never jaded, but rather always witty approach. He ranks as one of the most talented Dutch artists working in the tradition of Pieter Brueghel the Elder. His manner of execution - working in dense detail - created a texture that brings to mind the surfaces of a print by Rembrandt, whose earliest dated etched landscapes are of 1641.
The impression of a vivacious record of daily life was no doubt conveyed by a studied use of an extensive repertory probably recorded in drawings to which the artist turned while making his compositions. A favourite motif was the standing grey cart-horse, as in the centre of the present composition; it is practically a hallmark of his art.
Hofstede in his catalogue lists over three hundred and fifty paintings by the artist. That this oeuvre was the product of some ten years of activity in Haarlem gives an idea of the concentrated intensity of the artist's brief career, for he was to die at the age of twenty-eight in 1649. Nevertheless the appearance of his work on the market is rare. This was also the case in the early part of the nineteenth century, when many more Old Masters were available for sale, to the extent that John Smith, the dealer and connnoisseur, commented in 1829: 'Pictures of the first quality by this master are exceedingly rare, and proportionally high in price.'