Adriaen van Ostade
Haarlem, 1610 – Haarlem, 1685
Interior of a Barn with Peasants – An allegory of smell
Signed 'Av ostade' and dated ‘1637’, lower right
Oil on panel
H. 17 cm. B. 24 cm.
PROVENANCE
Private collection, Europe
REFERENCE LITERATURE
Krol, A.E. (1981). Musée de l'Ermitage. Peinture de l'Europe occidentale. Leningrad: Hermitage, Vol. II, p. 155
CATALOGUE NOTE
In his charming and amusing painting Adriaen van Ostade, like his contemporaries David Teniers the Younger and Adriaen Brouwer, depicted a scene of the everyday life of the peasant class. At the same time it forms an allegory, that of the sense of smell. A variation on this compsition by Van Ostade is kept in the collection of the Hermitage, Saint Petersburg (inv.nr. 999).
As a popular Dutch painter of peasant life, Adriaen van Ostade was one of the many artists who have allegorized the traditional five senses. Over the centuries, the senses of hearing, sight, smell, taste and touch have served as frequent sources of inspiration for artists and painters. This Interior with peasants in a Barn is such an allegory, in this case of the sense of smell, symbolized by a man holding his nose while a woman changes a baby's diaper. Three other examples of the Allegory of the Sense of Smell by Osade are known, one of which (dated '1635') is kept in the collection of the Hermitage in Saint Petersburg.
The theme of the low-life interior was developed by the gifted but short-lived Flemish painter Adriaen Brouwer, who according to Houbraken studied with Frans Hals in Haarlem at the same time as Adriaen van Ostade. Although Houbraken’s statement may not be reliable, there is little doubt that Van Ostade knew Brouwer and his work. In his early paintings, Van Ostade emulated the style and subject matter of this Flemish master, who resided in Haarlem until 1631. Like Brouwer, Van Ostade painted squalid taverns and barn interiors, populated by uncouth peasants engaged in boisterous and dissolute behaviour. His early figures are characterised by wild gestures, strong emotions and exaggerated features, while their coarse manners are complemented by a free and sketchy technique. At the same time, Van Ostade cultivated a forceful chiaroscuro and a predominantly brown and grey colour scheme, enlivened with accents of pale red, blue and mauve.
Painted in 1637, three years after Van Ostade joined the Haarlem Guild of Saint Luke, the present Interior of a Barn with Peasants exemplifies Van Ostade’s youthful style and the type of low-life scenes he produced during the first phase of his career. Despite the influence of Brouwer, Van Ostade’s distinctive artistic personality is already evident in the present work. His handling of paint is tighter and more precise than Brouwer’s and strong contrasts of light and dark play a more important role in structuring his compositions. The figures in the young Van Ostade’s interiors are relatively smaller than those in Brouwer’s. Moreover, they are less individualised and rely more on body language than facial gestures to convey character and mood. Later on, as his career progressed, Van Ostade’s view of the common man changed and his peasants gradually assumed a more civilised and domesticated appearance.
