Adriaen van Ostade (1610-1685), Interior with Smokers and a Child, 1636
Engraving by Jan de Visscher (1636-1692), 1670 / Signed by Visscher on the plate, lower margin
History of the engraving: This painting by Ostade is now lost, but a highly advanced preparatory drawing has been preserved (formerly in the collection of Sir Thomas Lawrence: https://rkd.nl/images/294901). The RKD places it among the Hofstede de Groot Catalogue, in the section of Vol. 3, 6-28, dating it 1636, due to its very close stylistic proximity to the series of the Five Senses at the Hermitage (dated 1635-1636). It is a characteristic work of Ostade's early period: "Before 1640, Ostade was still under the marked influence of Rembrandt; he painted vast and dark interiors, barely illuminated by a small skylight" (Berndt, 1980, vol. II, p. 58). It seems like Ostade himself later rejected this early style to embrace a focus on the every day life; that's why this type of dark interiors are almost absent from the engraved oeuvre except for some early etchings like the Barn of 1647). Bernt observes that in the 1670s, Ostade was drifting away from the dominant tide of Dutch painting; he focused on joyful scenes of country life, on rural feasts reminiscent of Bruegel, while the public taste leaned towards a more realistic and somber style. That is why Visscher, who was the dominant engraver of Haarlem at the time, and the quasi-official engraver of Wouwerman and Berchem, focused on these early, Rembrandtesque large paintings of Ostade. The style is markedly different from Ostade's etching technique: a strong chiaroscuro, bodies and faces diformed to the point that the scene assumes moral and religious undertones. Ostade himself was visibly pushing back against this tide, most of his etchings of the 1670s and 1680s featuring joyful characters shown in family or social context.
Literature: Hollstein Dutch & Flemish, 19 II
Condition: 20,8 x 24,8 cm / Lettering: "A[driaen] van Ostade pinxit ; Joann[es] de Visscher fecit. ; Justus Danckerts excudit." / 1 mm margin ; very good condition (no stains), deep impression / Laid at top corners to a passepartout
Authenticity: Grey antique laid paper / 2nd state (after lettering), to compare to the same state version of the Rijksmuseum: https://www.rijksmuseum.nl/en/collection/RP-P-OB-62.003 / Stamp of the Winfield Robbins (1841-1910) collection.