(Haarlem 1610–1685)
A tavern interior, with peasants singing and making music,
oil on panel, 25.5 x 33 cm, framed

Provenance:
with Kunsthandel K. & V. Waterman, Amsterdam, 1983;
The Hascoe family collection, 1983–2011;
sale, Dorotheum, Vienna, 12 October 2011, lot 479;
Private collection, Vienna

Exhibited:
The Archer M. Huntington Gallery at the University of Texas, Austin, on loan from the Hascoe Collection, 1984–2008

The present painting is listed in the RKD database under no. 232676 (as Adriaen van Ostade).

We are grateful to Bernhard Schnackenburg for confirming the attribution of the present painting to Adriaen van Ostade on the basis of a photograph. He dates the work to van Ostade’s very early career, circa 1631/32.

A fine example of the ‘peasant genre’ for which van Ostade was renowned, the present composition depicts an improvised concert taking place in the interior of a tavern. The scene is centred on the group of peasants huddled around a sheet of music, singing in a boisterous manner, accompanied by a musician playing the bagpipes. Despite the rather sombre setting, a warmth radiates from the scene, thanks to the adept characterisation, fine detail, and the subtlety in colouring.

In terms of style the present painting can be compared with the Brawling Cardplayers in the National Gallery of Prague, Czech Republic (inv. no. O 10140), which dates from the early period and incorporates the same combination of subtle pastel hues of pink, blue and grey. It may also be assumed that the present work was intended as an Allegory of Hearing which had once formed part of a series devoted to the Five Senses. At the time the genre of allegory had been considered ‘high art’ and it was expected that the senses would be in the guise of classical deities and heroes. However, by choosing caricature figures with squat, clumsy physiques instead, van Ostade has demonstratively broken with tradition. A comparable series, dated 1635 and of smaller dimensions, is in the collection of the State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg.