Rembrandt's influence can also be traced in Ostade's work after about 1640; his interiors became calmer, his palette warmer and he employed a brown chiaroscuro to great effect. He still favoured cluttered compositions, revelling in drawing the disorganised utensils and debris of everyday life.

His paintings dating from 1650 to 1660 display greater finesse and his subjects seem awash with bright light; in later works the light appears cooler by comparison.

Ostade's reputation rests on his copious genre paintings and peasant figure studies. Quieter paintings of farm and kitchen interiors in which the emphasis is on the still-life element are considerably more unusual in his oeuvre.

Ostade was successful and prolific throughout his long career. He joined the Haarlem Guild in 1634 and was its commissioner in 1646, 1661 and dean in 1662. His first wife, whom he wed in 1638, died only four years later. By 1657 he was married again; this time to a wealthy woman from Amsterdam. With the exception of his regular trips to Amsterdam, Ostade remained in Haarlem throughout his life.

Among Ostade's more illustrious pupils were his brother Isaac, Jan Steen, Cornelis Dusart and Cornelis Bega.

Adriaen Jansz. van Ostade was an extremely prodigious painter (Hofstede de Groot mentions over 900 paintings by him) and examples of his work can be found in numerous museums and institutions across the world.

NOTE:
Van Ostade recalls his teacher Adriaen Brouwer in this vibrant study. Van Ostade was well known for such studies, of which two (one dated 1642) can be found in the Boijmans-van Beuningen, Rotterdam and one (c. 1646) in the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam (inv. no. A302). Professor Schnackenburg believes this panel to be an early sketch, datable to circa 1637 and relates it to the artist's pen sketches.

Both Dr Hiltraud Doll and Professor Schnackenburg have independently confirmed the attribution to Ostade.