ADRIAEN BROUWER (1605-1638), Entourage

The Drinker Oil on parquet panel with collection stamp in red wax. Size : 33 x 24,5 cm A painter and draughtsman of genre scenes and landscapes, he is best known for anecdotal scenes set in inns. Sources differ, but it is certain that he worked in Antwerp in 1621, in Amsterdam in 1625, in the studio of Frans Hals, still in Amsterdam, in 1628, and that he returned to Antwerp in 1631, registered with the Guild of Saint Luke. Taking up subjects dear to Peter Bruegel the Elder, which he treated in a style influenced by both Frans Hals and Rubens, Adriaen Brouwer excelled in genre scenes of peasant life and taverns, characterized by a remarkable sense of observation. He had a significant influence on Joos Van Craesbeeck and especially David Teniers the Younger. Rubens admired him so much that he bought many paintings from him and gave Brouwer, who died of the plague at a very young age, a worthy burial.