In a rustic interior, a few peasants playfully socialize and drink. Daylight floods the middle of the room, entering through an unseen casement window that has our same vantage point. At the hearth in the background, others are quietly occupied with chores. Ostade evokes the sensation of noise and confusion in the foreground by employing diagonals to describe the room, and to articulate the gestures and postures of the raucous peasants. Exaggerated facial expressions and deft, loose brushwork contribute to the impression of this boisterous scene. Adriaen van Ostade was one of the greatest painters of peasant genre subjects in the Dutch Golden Age. Carousing Peasants exemplifies his early style and the type of low-life scene he produced at the outset of his career.
Though the intention of this type of subject has been debated, they were likely created for comic purpose, to entertain an educated audience at the expense of the peasant. Sophisticated viewers could console themselves by distinguishing their decorum and productivity to the idle, ‘natural’ behavior of the peasant.
Details
- Artist Name: Adriaen van Ostade (Dutch, 1610-1685)
- Title: Carousing Peasants
- Date: c. 1630
- Medium: Oil on panel
- Dimensions: 16-1/2 x 23-1/8 in. (41.9 x 58.7 cm)
- Credit Line: The Norton Simon Foundation
- Accession Number: F.1972.14.P
- Copyright: © The Norton Simon Foundation
Object Information
L. Venau, Paris; sold 1909 to;
[Galerie F. Kleinberger, Paris, sold 1909 to];
August de Ridder (1836/7-1911), Schloss Schönberg, Frankfurt. Returned 1910 to;
[E.M. Sperling, Galerie F. Kleinberger, Paris, sold 1924 to];
Marczell von Nemes (1866-1930), Budapest (sale, Munich, Frederik Muller, 16 June 1931, lot 56, ill. pl. 25, for m. 8,200).
Private Collection, Switzerland.
[Dr. Peter Nathan, Zurich, consigned June 1971 to];
[Schaeffer Galleries, Inc., New York; stock no. 2678, sold half profit with Nathan, 30 May 1972 to];
The Norton Simon Foundation.
Exposition des grands et petits maîtres hollandais du XVIIe siècle
- Paris, Salle du Jeu de Paume, 1911-04-28 to 1911-07-10
The Collection of Pictures of the Late Herr A. de Ridder in his Villa at Schönberg near Cronberg in Taunus
- F. Kleinberger Galleries (New York, N.Y.), 1913-11 to 1913-12
[on loan]
- Oberlin College, Dudley Peter Allen Art Museum, 1972-06-01 to 1973-05-08
[on loan]
- Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1973-05-09 to 1974-11-26
Encountering the Dutch Likeness: Portraiture in 17th Century Holland
- Norton Simon Museum, 1993-09-02 to 1996
All Consuming: Art and the Essence of Food
- Norton Simon Museum, 2023-04-14 to 2023-08-14
The Expressive Body: Memory, Devotion, Desire (1400-1750)
- Norton Simon Museum, 2021-10-15 to 2022-03-07
- C. W., International Studio, pp. 66, 75
- Dayot, Armand, Grands et petits maîtres hollandais du XVII siècle, no. 113 pp. 51, 141
- Hofstede de Groot, C., A Catalogue Raisonné of the Most Eminent Dutch Painters, 1910, no. 575 p. 316
- l'Exposition des grandes et des petits maîtres hollandais du XVIIe siecle, 1911, no. 104
- Martin, Wilhelm, Elseviers geillustreered maandschrift, 1911, p. 246
- Bode, Wilhelm von, Die Gemäldgalerie des weiland Herrn A. de Ridder in seiner Villa zu Schönberg bei Cronberg im Taunus, 1913, pp. 10, 39
- Bode, Wilhelm von, The Collection of Pictures of the Late Herr A. de Ridder in his Villa at Schönberg near Cronberg in the Taunus, 1913, fig. 39 p. 10
- Bode, Wilhelm von, La Galerie des tableaux du feu M. A. de Ridder, dans sa villa de Schönberg près de Cronberg (Taunus), 1913, fig. 39 p. 10
- Norton Simon Museum, Selected Paintings at the Norton Simon Museum, 1980, p. 60
- Sutton, Peter C., A Guide to Dutch Art in America, 1986, p. 218
- Campbell, Sara, Collector Without Walls: Norton Simon and His Hunt for the Best, 2010, cat. 787 p. 338
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