.jpg?w=1)
Lot Essay
This scene of peasants carousing in an inn is a very fine example of Ostade's earlier style of painting, showing the influences of Adriaen Brouwer and of the tonal style of painting prevalent in the Haarlem school. Brouwer - with whom Ostade trained under Hals, according to Houbraken - was a decisive influence on Ostade's career, apparently sharing with him the rather sympathetic and comically grotesque depiction of peasant life that was to be a hallmark of the former's and much of the latter's oeuvres.
From his Haarlem contemporaries, Ostade drew the subtly restricted palette and active use of the warm tones of the wooden support that unifies the composition and provides the backdrop against which stands out so vividly the well of light that highlights the central characters. Painted in 1640, this panel shows Ostade at the height of his ability in this period: his confident handling of paint and employment of light create a sense of enclosed space and atmosphere that is characteristic of his earlier work, but now lightened by the grey-green tones that anticipate his move over the next decade towards the more classical pictures of his later style.
From his Haarlem contemporaries, Ostade drew the subtly restricted palette and active use of the warm tones of the wooden support that unifies the composition and provides the backdrop against which stands out so vividly the well of light that highlights the central characters. Painted in 1640, this panel shows Ostade at the height of his ability in this period: his confident handling of paint and employment of light create a sense of enclosed space and atmosphere that is characteristic of his earlier work, but now lightened by the grey-green tones that anticipate his move over the next decade towards the more classical pictures of his later style.