Untitled

Accession Number
2009/1.510

Title
Untitled

Artist(s)
Adriaen Jansz van Ostade

Artist Nationality
Dutch (culture or style)

Object Creation Date
1630-1685

Medium & Support
ink on laid paper

Dimensions
8 1/8 in x 7 3/4 in (20.64 cm x 19.68 cm);1 13/16 in x 1 7/8 in (4.6 cm x 4.76 cm);8 1/8 in x 7 3/4 in (20.64 cm x 19.68 cm);7 5/8 in x 7 1/16 in (19.37 cm x 17.94 cm)

Credit Line
Joseph F. McCrindle Collection

Label copy
Gallery Rotation Winter 2013
Adriaen Jansz van Ostade
Netherlands, 1610–1685
Sketch of Peasant Stooping
1630–85
Pen and brown ink
Gift of the Joseph F. McCrindle Collection, 2009/1.510
Van Ostade is known for his drawings and etchings of peasant life, which were also incorporated into his genre scenes (art that takes everyday life as its subject matter) and landscape paintings. Despite the monumentality of the figures in these two works, the similarity of their garments—heavy, long cloaks and large hats— suggests the anonymity of this sort of country-folk.

Subject matter
Van Ostade is known for his genre scenes, which depict people engaged in everyday life.  This drawing showcases the immediacy of the artist's working method and suggests that he drew the figure from life.  A humble peasant is rendered using dense hatching and soft contours.  Studies of peasants were popular subjects for genre scenes made during the Dutch Golden Age in the seventeenth-century.  Van Ostade was a pupil of both Adriaen Brouwer and Frans Hals, who were Dutch artists specializing in portraits and character studies or tronies. Both artists are notable for their ability to capture the soul and inner personality of their sitters.

Physical Description
A man is shown bending down and reaching towards the ground with his right hand while holding his left hand closer to his body. His hat obscures his face.

Primary Object Classification
Drawing

Primary Object Type
life drawing

Collection Area
Western

Rights
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please visit http://umma.umich.edu/request-image for more information and to fill out the online Image Rights and Reproductions Request Form.

Keywords
bending
genre (visual works)
hats
peasants
sketches

2 Related Resources

Poverty
(Part of 4 Learning Collections)
Early Modern European Peasants
(Part of 10 Learning Collections)

& Author Notes

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