Adriaen van Ostade

Adriaen van Ostade - Pupil of Frans Hals; member of the St Luke's Guild

Adriaen van Ostade was born Adriaen Hendricx in Haarlem in 1610, the son of a master baker from Lübeck. From early on, however, he was drawn not to his father's bakery but to the studio of the important Dutch portrait artist Frans Hals, and he soon became the latter’s pupil - according to some sources, together with his Flemish namesake Adriaen Brouwer, who achieved some fame as a genre painter and strongly influenced van Ostade's early work with his penchant for crude humour. Adriaen van Ostade became a member of the prestigious Haarlem Guild of St Luke as early as 1634. In his early years, the young artist painted a large number of miniatures that were characterised by their great precision and attention to detail in which simple peasant life with all its coarseness took centre stage: Gambling in gloomy, squalid taverns, dance evenings, drinking parties and similarly dubious events were the themes of both van Ostade and Brouwer, and it is precisely this clear affinity of motifs that suggests a contact between the two artists.

Turn to Rembrandt and bourgeois motifs

Around 1640, Adriaen van Ostade increasingly distanced himself from the influence of his teacher Frans Hals and also moved away from the crude motifs of his presumed acquaintance Adriaen Brouwer. The young painter then looked to Rembrandt as a model, and also set a new focus in his choice of motifs: Instead of the rustic, often coarse and vulgar peasant life, Adriaen van Ostade depicted scenes from the bourgeoisie, which he captured in warmer colours and stronger contrasts of light and dark. The often shrill cheerfulness of the earlier works gave way to a subliminal humour, the crude jokes turned into a subtle wink, by which contrasts, sometimes naively presented, played a strong role. In addition to his paintings, Adriaen van Ostade also produced etchings and drawings; another subject area that increasingly interested him in later years was religious motifs.

Recognised master and teacher

His growing success brought Adriaen van Ostade prizes and honours; the Haarlem Guild of St Luke elected him dean in 1662 and he also trained a number of pupils, including his own younger brother Isaac. His high level of productivity provided him with a generous income, which he used to maintain an almost luxurious lifestyle. The artist's late work was just as bright as his lifestyle, and he concentrated with great care on bright, friendly depictions. Adriaen van Ostade was married twice, from 1638 until her death in 1642 to Macheltje Pietersdr, and from 1657 to Anna Ingels. His second wife was very wealthy and left him a handsome inheritance after her death in 1666, as well as their daughter Johanna Maria, whose wedding he only survived by six days. His artist's workshop was auctioned off and his extensive oeuvre of well over 800 paintings, drawings and etchings now adorns numerous museums and private collections.