Adriaen Brouwer Circle

Circle of ADRIAEN BROUWER (Belgium, 1605 - 1638).
"Tavern scene".
Oil on panel.
Measurements: 23 x 30 cm; 30 x 35 cm (frame).
The artist of this composition belongs to the school of Adriaen Brouwer, specialist in tavern painting. It belongs to this genre, created in early Baroque Flanders by the masters Adriaen Brouwer (1605 - 1638) and David Teniers (1610 - 1690), which soon came to Holland. As its name suggests, these are scenes set in taverns, called costumbrista works for showing the common customs of the common people of the time, with a variety of styles important, but always maintaining both the theme and a clear preference for an earthy palette. Influenced by the two masters mentioned above, the painter who makes this type of work, usually works an interior space with a very refined chromatic range, based on earthy and ochre tones, typical of the naturalism of the first baroque. In terms of style, these painters would normally be close to Teniers (more detailed works; precise, loose but short brushstrokes, defining the forms and qualities of figures and objects, without downplaying the importance of drawing), or Brower (more caricatured style, and brushstrokes and forms different from those of Teniers).
Adriaen Brouwer was a Flemish painter specialized in genre painting, active in Flanders and the United Provinces of the Netherlands in the 17th century. He was an important innovator of genre painting through his scenes of peasant life, tavern interiors with brawlers, smokers, drinkers and expressive portraits (the so-called "tronies"). At the end of his career he painted landscapes that denote a tragic intensity. His work had an important influence on the next generation of Flemish and Dutch genre painters. His works are preserved in national museums around the world, including the Prado Museum and the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam. Brouwer trained in Holland, in the workshop of Frans Hals. However, conflicts with his master led the young man to flee to Amsterdam, finally settling permanently in Antwerp in 1931, where he died prematurely just seven years later. Between 1631 and 1632 he became a teacher at the Guild of St. Luke in that city. Despite his short career, Brouwer was the creator of a new genre within the painting of customs, the tavern scenes. His works were mainly of small format, generally starring popular and low-life characters, usually drunk, showing a certain violence in their attitudes and behavior. This type of images allowed Brouwer to experiment with the capture of emotions and expressions of pain, fear and other feelings, revealing an interest in human aspects that goes beyond the traditional conception of genre painting. Despite his problems with the law and also economic problems, Brouwer was a respected painter during his lifetime, and in fact both Rubens and Rembrandt acquired some of his works. Today, works by Adriaen Brouwer are preserved in the most prominent art galleries around the world, including the Louvre Museum in Paris, the Hermitage in St. Petersburg, the Prado in Madrid, the Alte Pinakothek in Munich, the National Gallery in London, the Smithsonian in Washington D.C., the Kunstmuseum in Basel and the Ashmolean in Oxford.