ADRIAEN VAN OSTADE (Haarlem 1610 – Haarlem 1685)
Barn Interior with Peasants making Music
Signed Av Ostade with the first two initials conjoined and dated 1633 in the lower left
oil on panel
15 3/8 x 13 inches (39 x 33 cm.)
A VERY EARLY ADRIAEN VAN OSTADE SIGNED AND DATED 1633
In the 17th century, if still-lifes were the cake of blatant symbolism, genre scenes became the butter cream icing on top! Often slightly perverse, think men soliciting ladies of the evening, but yet sending moral messages of unacceptable conduct, these genre scenes grew hugely in popularity during the 1600’s. Many up-and-coming artists wanted in on the commercial success. Adrian van Ostade was no different.
His career became defined by these genre scenes of misbehavior, but this early example of a van Ostade genre scene is a window into a new artist and his attempt to make a living in a popular field. In this early painting, van Ostade is walking a fine line between right and wrong. Peasants in a drunken scene, clearly looking foolish, singing and falling about, yet his placement of still life props says that he wants to make sure that he is not condoning this behavior. A broom placed strategically in the scene suggests purification, next to a broken terracotta flagon suggesting the self-indulgences of drink. The onions hanging on the wall could be a nod towards enlightenment – often compared to a Lotus flower in Eastern art. Somehow the artist does convey some sympathy for these merry makers as they do appear joyous and fun-loving. Maybe this is van Ostade showing his youth, not ready to be too judgmental and wanting to have some fun himself? To the Calvinistic eye, this genre scene sends a message of poor moral conduct and a ‘don’t behave like this or you will end up in the barn’, but to the modern eye and maybe to a fledgling artist, it looks like a fun night out!
Western civilization has always used images to send messages. Over the centuries, this obsession persisted and expanded until every aspect of the natural world, both in the heavens and on earth, was thought to have its symbolic meaning: stars, animals, plants, stones, colors, numbers, names and many others, all of which contributed to a culture dominated by a need to express the inexpressible, that is, by the attempt to reach an understanding of the nature of God and the meaning of life. As late at the 13th century, there was a secrecy around these images and knowledge as we think of it today. There is hardly a single writer in these early periods who does not emphasize that knowledge of any kind must be concealed from the ignorant masses, that, as Pythagoras first put it, it must be hidden behind the veil, and expressed only in symbols which could be understood by the educated or the initiated. Through the Middle Ages these lines of thought continued. However, this cloak-and-dagger society of knowledge started to break down during The Reformation.
Up until now, most symbols – particularly ones defining moral code – had been inserted into religious paintings and used by religious characters. The Reformation – predominantly the Calvinists - discarded these religious images for secular ones, considering the religious images as idol-worship. With The Reformation sweeping the Low Countries, artists were free to use symbols in more domestic settings. The viewer (client) could relate to the message these paintings were sending, displaying them proudly in their home, showing they too supported moral conduct and condemned the immoral. This obvious display of morality isn’t dissimilar to the Calvinist idea of always keeping your curtains open to proclaim to the world that nothing illicit or immoral was going on – a tradition which still carries on to this day in much of The Netherlands. Have a stroll around Amsterdam in the evening, you would be amazed what you can see through people’s windows! No secrets there!!
7 October 2021