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Adriaen Brouwer

Adriaen Brouwer

The Flemish painter Adriaen Brouwer (c. 1605-1638) exerted an immense influence on his contemporaries. His success as a painter of genre subjects ensured the popularity of scenes of peasant life in Dutch and Flemish painting of the 17th century.

Adriaen Brouwer was born at Oudenaarde in the southern Netherlands. There is no reliable account of his training as an artist. He lived in Holland, working in Haarlem and Amsterdam, from about 1625 until 1631. In Haarlem he undoubtedly knew and was influenced by Frans Hals. An early painting, typical of Brouwer's Dutch period, is the Pancake Man, which, with its lumpish, misshapen peasant types and strong local colors, recalls the 16th-century Flemish master Pieter Bruegel the Elder.

In 1631 Brouwer was in Antwerp, where he was listed as a master in the Guild of St. Luke (the painters' guild) and where he remained until his death, at only 32 years of age, in 1638. During these few years the artist produced some masterpieces. In works such as the Peasants Playing Cards the sharp local colors of the early period have been replaced by an all-embracing tonality and a more painterly handling, probably derived from Hals; and the observation of human foibles and passions has likewise become more acute and sympathetic. Despite their sometimes coarse subject matter, Brouwer's figure paintings are remarkable for their sensitive color and refinement of execution. Not to be overlooked among the works of the last Antwerp years are his landscape paintings, which have a surprising freshness and poetic quality.

The records plainly show that Brouwer was a man of unconventional behavior: he undoubtedly led a rather bohemian existence and was frequently in debt. Nevertheless, it should be emphasized that the traditional picture of the artist as a dissolute and irresponsible buffoon is largely an invention of early biographers, who seem to have believed that Brouwer's manner of life resembled that of the uncouth boors in some of his tavern scenes.

Both Peter Paul Rubens and Rembrandt paid Brouwer the compliment of acquiring paintings by his hand for their own collections. Brouwer's principal followers in the rendering of peasant subjects were the Dutch painter Adriaen van Ostade and the Flemish painter David Teniers the Younger.

Further Reading

The best books on Brouwer are by Dutch and German scholars. An early attempt to define the artist's output is C. Hofstede de Groot, Catalogue Raisonné of the Works of the Most Eminent Dutch Painters, vol. 3 (trans. 1911). The fundamental study, still not supplanted, is Wilhelm von Bode's monograph in German, Adriaen Brouwer, sein Leben und seine Werke (1924), which contains all the documents relating to the artist's life; Bode regarded Brouwer as "the most gifted Netherlandish master of the 17th century after Rembrandt and Rubens," and this assessment of the painter and his work has not been seriously modified by subsequent scholarly investigation. Gerard Knuttel, Adriaen Brouwer, the Master and His Work (trans. 1962), is a well-illustrated monograph which seeks to present a new critical evaluation of the painter and his artistic development. □

Related newspaper, magazine, and trade journal articles from HighBeam Research

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	Música: Leo recobrado I.(Leo Brouwer, compositor; obras)(TT: Music: Leo recovered I.)(TA: Leo Brouwer, composer; works)(Columna) Magazine article from: Proceso; 10/31/1999; ; 603 words ; ...Alberti (1902-1999) El compositor cubano Leo Brouwer cumple 60 años. Ocasión propicia...compacto de una obra compuesta por Leo Brouwer. Se trata de El Decamerón negro...al consignar el gran acierto de... Leo Brouwer (1939) quien señala para nuestra... Read more
	Evangelical author calls for reassessing link between religion and politics.(PEOPLE & EVENTS)(Sigmund Brouwer) Magazine article from: Church & State; 7/1/2008; 450 words ; ...James Dobson and Jerry Falwell. Sigmund Brouwer, an author of Christian fiction, wrote...army, led by generals like Falwell? asked Brouwer. Am I a bad Christian to question this...people against their overlords, wrote Brouwer. Yet in rejecting the leadership mantle... Read more
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	Harold Brouwer Dairy, Visalia, CA. Newspaper article from: Warning Letter Bulletin; 4/10/2000; 54 words ; Harold Brouwer Dairy, Visalia, CA, March 17 (San Francisco). The Feb. 29-March 2 inspection, conducted by investigator John Gonzalez, documented... Read more
	Run machine Brouwer brews up trouble for Aldwick. Newspaper article from: Chichester Observer (Chicheste, England); 5/8/2008; 122 words ; Aldwick were unfortunate to be paired with a classy Southwater side including South African run machine Johan Brouwer. He top-scored with 77 in a total of 183 for eight off 49 overs, caught by Andy Adkins off skipper Joel Lodge (2-44). Aldwick had... Read more
	Haarlem genre painting: Dennis P. Weller visits an exhibition focussing on the artistry of Frans Hals and his contemporaries. Magazine article from: Apollo; 3/1/2004; ; 700+ words ; ...appear alongside low-life scenes executed by the Fleming Adriaen Brouwer during his activity in Haarlem. With the exception of...Molenaer consistently avoids the coarse, biting edge of Brouwer's peasants in favour of comic figures conveying more... Read more
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	Adriaen Brouwer Book article from: The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition ...Rubens, is apparent in his paintings. Brouwer is noted for his depictions of peasant...treated single figures sleeping or smoking. Brouwer's early canvases were richly colored...characteristic of the contemporary Dutch fashion. Brouwer was also an important master of landscape... Read more
	Ostade, Adriaen van Book article from: The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Art and Artists Ostade, Adriaen van (1610–85). Dutch painter, draughtsman, and etcher...principally a genre painter . According to Houbraken , he and Adriaen Brouwer (whose work is similar) were fellow pupils of Frans Hals...Haarlem. As well as painting genre scenes in the manner of Adriaen, Isaak was an ... Read more
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	Adriaen van Ostade Book article from: The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition ...genre painter, b. Haarlem. Trained in the studio of Frans Hals , he was strongly influenced by his fellow student Adriaen Brouwer . Van Ostade created good-humored depictions of village and peasant life, in which the figures are lively in expression... Read more

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