Adrian van Ostade was one of the greatest painters of peasant genre subjects of the Dutch Golden Age. Boors carousing in a Barn is an exceptionally fine example of his early style, and indeed Fred Meijer’s dating of the present work to 1632 – 34 places it amongst his earliest known works.

Despite its early dating, Boors Carousing in a Barn is remarkable for its bold and painterly handling and the skillfulness of its chiaroscuro effects. It can be closely compared with Ostade’s Drinking Figures of 1634 (preserved in the Sarah Campbell Blaffer Foundation, Houston) which is of precisely the same measurements, and indeed may even have been conceived as a pair to the present painting(ii). Both scenes feature raucous peasant gatherings in barn-like settings, a striking central figure striding across the room, and dramatic chiaroscuro effects enlivened with bright, pastel hues.

Although there is no documentary proof to support Houbraken’s claim that Ostade and Adriaen Brower were fellow pupils of Frans Hals, Ostade undoubtedly knew Brouwer and his work. The style and subject matter of the present painting are indebted to the Flemish master, who resided in Haarlem until 1631. Brouwer’s expressive low-life scenes provided the inspiration for Ostade’s own energetic depictions of tavern and barn interiors, populated by riotous yokels dancing, smoking, drinking, gambling, squabbling, fighting and making music. The pale blue, cream and rose-pink tints in the present painting are reminiscent of the cool delicate colour schemes employed by Brouwer in his paintings of a few years before. Here, as in Brouwer’s work, they are offset by a predominantly earthy, brown tonality. Yet despite Brouwer’s influence, Ostade’s own artistic personality is already evident in this youthful work. The broad rendering of facial features is characteristic of his early style, as is his reliance on the body language of his protagonists to convey the mood. Typical too is the hidden light source which creates a spot-lit effect in the otherwise dark interior, and the use of boldly silhouetted foreground motifs.

Adriaen van Ostade’s peasant themes belong to a long established moralising tradition in Netherlandish art, which derives from sixteenth-century Flemish prototypes made popular by Pieter Brueghel the Elder and his followers. Ostade’s depictions of the lower classes engaging in boorish antics serve as eloquent examples of how not to behave. In this painting, his unsavoury characters exemplify the comic and undignified consequences of intemperance, and his free and expressive technique admirably complements their course manners and appearance. Later, from the 1640’s onwards, Ostade began to endow his protagonists with increasing degrees of restraint and dignity. Gradually they abandon their most unseemly behaviour becoming more civilized and prosperous. At the same time, the shift in Ostade’s approach to his subject matter is matched by changes in style and technique, which became smoother and more 'controlled'.

BIOGRAPHY OF ADRIAEN VAN OSTADE
Adriaen van Ostade was the son of a Haarlem weaver, and was born on 10th December 1610, the fifth of ten children. His training is not documented, but Houbraken states that he studied with Frans Hals around 1627. Ostade is first referred to as a painter in 1632, but is not recorded as a member of the Haarlem Guild of St Luke until 1634. The artist served as a Warden of the painters’ guild in 1647 and 1662, and as Dean in 1662-63. He spent his entire life in Haarlem, and was a militiaman in the St George Civic Guard from 1633 – 1669.

Ostade was primarily a painter of peasant genre scenes, but he also produced a small number of landscapes, portraits and history paintings. In addition to his brother Isaack and Cornelis Dusart, Houbraken states that Cornelis Bega, Michael van Musscher and Jan Steen were his pupils.

Ostade’s work is represented in many of the great museums of the world, including the Rijksmuseum, the Mauritshuis, the Louvre, the National Gallery (London), the Royal Collection, the Fitzwilliam Museum, the Hermitage Museum, the J. Paul Getty Museum, the Museum of Fine Arts (Boston), the Metropolitan Museum, the National Gallery (Washington) and the Prado.

(i) We are grateful to Thomas Woodcock of the Royal College of Arms for confirming that the wax seal preserved on the back of the panel showing a double headed eagle is the Imperial Russian crest.
(ii) See Masters of Seventeenth Century Dutch Genre Painting, Peter Sutton et al, 1984, Cat. 89, Plate 27, pp.282-3 (illustrated). The present painting may also be compared with another early work by Ostade, also depicting boors carousing in a barn, with Johnny van Haeften, London (on panel, 20 ¼ x 19 ins), and we are indebted to Pippa Mason’s research in relation to that painting.