"The Smoker". Etching on paper, oval plate size approx. 2-3/4" x 2-1/8", paper trimmed to 3-1/8" x 2-3/4", matted and framed under glass, overall size 12-7/8" x 12". There is a hand written tag on the back of the dust cover referring to this piece; a Registrar's number from the Cleveland Museum of Art. (According to the record, the piece came in to the museum for examination in 1947 and was returned to the owner three days later.)
Born in Haarlem and baptized on 10 December 1610, Adriaen van Ostade is said to have been a pupil of Frans Hals. But his earlier works more strikingly resemble those of Adriaen Brouwer while his later ones show the influence of Rembrandt. He specialized in scenes of peasant life, often comical, occasionally grotesque, but in principle intended to show, like Bruegel's canvases, the condition of mankind. By the middle of the century, his work became more respectable. Van Ostade's output was vast, and he was well-to-do and respected in his community. He was dean of the Haarlem guild in 1662. In 1657 he was converted to Catholicism and married a wealthy Catholic woman from Amsterdam. He died in Haarlem and was buried there on 2 May 1685.
200/400 Sold $92.00
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