The master of drinking 

Curator: We are looking at “The master of drinking,” an oil painting attributed to Adriaen Brouwer, currently held in the Rijksmuseum. Editor: My immediate impression is the overwhelming darkness, like peeking into a cave where the firelight flickers on revelers. Curator: Notice how Brouwer manipulates light. Observe the distribution across the faces; see the contrast between textures, from wood beams to earthenware jugs. Do you find a rhythm in those curved forms? Editor: Certainly, but I’m drawn to the mundane work occurring simultaneously. A figure labors in the background—juxtaposing their toil with the idleness of drinking right next to them creates an implied socioeconomic tension in the tavern. Curator: Semiotically, that interplay produces contrast; drinking suggests abandon and the figure bent at work represents industry and poverty. See how this is a painting less concerned with beauty and instead focuses on portraying figures through symbolic gesture. Editor: It’s about documenting labor. And look, the material elements – the clay jugs, simple wooden benches – emphasize the hard-won elements of what’s being enjoyed in that tavern, speaking of how all levels of society interact in this particular space and time. What kind of paints might Brouwer have used? How would they be ground? The tools for drinking next to the tools for production... Curator: Yes, there’s an interplay here between simple labor and moments of leisure; what a sharp rendering of a shared human experience. It is as much a genre scene as it is a portrait. Editor: True, and those processes also affected Brouwer's own labor. Without careful production and management of raw materials like pigments, paintings like these simply wouldn’t exist. The social act of drinking plays a larger role beyond the individual, mirroring the act of producing art in that it takes community efforts. Curator: Considering these contextual elements together is enlightening and enriches my understanding of artistic construction as a process. Editor: Indeed, this perspective changes our interaction with artworks like these by showing its links between people, practices, and material culture.