Tavern Scene 1635

Adriaen Brouwer made this ‘Tavern Scene’ using oil on panel, sometime in the early 17th century. The dark panel’s influence is visible across the canvas, giving the entire scene a dingy cast, fitting for its subject. Brouwer specialized in these sorts of low-life genre paintings, and was celebrated in his own day for just that. The material of oil paint allows him to capture the figures’ expressions, from the pained grimace of the ‘patient’ to the raucous laughter of his tormentor. The figures are captured in their toil: drinking, smoking, and revelry. The panel itself is relatively small. Perhaps Brouwer felt a kinship with these ordinary folk, creating a sense of intimacy, bringing the viewer in close to the earthy reality of labor and leisure, rather than valorizing some grand narrative. We’re reminded that art is as much about capturing everyday life, and finding the extraordinary in the ordinary, as it is about idealizing grand subjects.