Peasants Brawling over Cards

Adriaen Brouwer was the artist who brought low-class peasant scenes to the fore of Dutch society. Such scenes denoted a sense of immoral behaviour and were popular among rich citizens as they confirmed their status and moral standing.

These paintings also reaffirmed notions of the drunk as sinful and bad as many Dutch societies were leaders in the beer brewing industries and alcoholism was rife amongst the poorer classes in the 17th century.

In the mid 17th century card playing was deemed immoral and frivolous by puritans in the Protestant countries as it had shown to cause nothing but immense debt through gambling. Some of the earliest card designs originated in Antwerp and were created by Jehan Henault in 1543.

Brouwer's characters for works such as Peasants Brawling over Cards were stereotypical members of the lower class with large limbs and dowdy features. As well as gambling he also portrayed them fighting, smoking and drinking and generally revelling in activities the upper classes deemed morally wrong.

Composition:
Peasants Brawling over Cards is situated on three planes and Brouwer reaffirms depth in this work with two light sources; the first highlights the brawling subjects as it comes from behind the artist to the left, and the second comes from the fireplace.

Brouwer painted the left half of the canvas in darkness to accentuate the presence of the three revellers as he paints them in bright and high color with a strong undercoating of white.

With regards to the viewing process the eye is immediately drawn to the man with his arm raised and the man he is grabbing. The gambler on the left who looks at the two men also reaffirms them as the focal point.

Color palette:
The predominant shading used in this work is dark brown tones mixed with light greys. This helped recreate the hazy atmosphere caused by both the tobacco smoke and fire at the back of the tavern.

Brouwer blends the browns used to depict the subject matter and their faces to make the shadow from the light source coming from the behind the viewer and the fire look as natural as possible.

He uses blacks to detail the facial expressions of the brawling men and also uses light red over the white flesh tones for their flushed cheeks.

Brush work:
Brouwer's brush work can be seen taking on very light and smooth strokes in Peasants Brawling over Cards. This work still demonstrates his Mannerist influences of bold outlines for the characters and objects.

Brouwer's brush movements are short and brisk and he pressed hard upon the canvas as various thin wisps of white can be seen on the floor and walls which helped blend in the darker tones that were painted for the shadows.

Apart from Adriaen Brouwer's final works from his last years in Antwerp, all of his paintings show scenes of everyday life for the lower classes of Dutch society. He depicts peasants smoking, drinking or brawling in taverns and unfit doctors performing operations on the poor.

The majority of his works were executed as the events happened and most paintings were small and painted on panel. The roughness of Brouwer's subject matter is contrasted with the delicacy of his style and later works such as this show a new-found maturity and a remarkable mastery of colors and tones.

In Peasants Brawling over Cards Brouwer replaces his sharp colors with full-on tonality and a treatment that is close to that of Hals. Furthermore, his portrayal of human fault and passions is also more sympathetic and intense.

This work of art is elegantly executed than is previous works and his workmanship is flawless. This growth and change in style is proof of Brouwer's progression as a painter and it is for works such as this that he is most fondly remembered and admired.

Brouwer greatly influenced his contemporaries and was an extremely successful painter of genre subjects in the 17th century.

Other works by Brouwer:
The Smokers, 1630

Peasants Smoking and Drinking, 1635

Tavern Scene, 1635

Peasants Brawling in a Tavern, Undated

The Card Players, Undated

Seated Drinkers, Undated

The ultimate 'bohemian artist' of the 17th century, the greatest admiration for Brouwer's work was in regards to his subject matter and landscapes. Most of the artist's admirers were close friends too and most sought to recreate the emotional and psychological rendering that he so successfully executed in his works.

Adriaen Brouwer greatly influenced his contemporaries and his scenes of peasant life became hugely popular in both Dutch and Flemish art of the 17th century and made a lasting impression on the art world overall.

Although his depictions often included rather crude subject matter his figure paintings were noted for their precise color and refined execution. Brouwer was skilled at being able to immerse himself in his surroundings but extract himself when necessary to execute his works.

He became an observer in local taverns and detached himself enough to create his vivid, realistic images. Such images could only have been produced by a sober man who was in complete control of his senses.

Brouwer's workmanship was impeccable and was greatly admired by no less than Rembrandt himself. Both Rubens and Rembrandt had numerous Brouwer paintings in their own collections and Rubens owned more works by the artist at the time of his death than any other painter.

It was Brouwer's verve and taste in composition that allowed him to stand out from his peers and influence masters such as Adriaen van Ostade, Jan Steen and David Teniers the Younger.

Whether for his craftsmanship or concepts, Adriaen Brouwer is possibly the greatest painter of the lower classes that ever existed and today his works can be found in the best art museums around the world.

The Baroque style originated in Italy and its pioneers include great artists such as Michelangelo and Tintoretto. Baroque art centered on impersonal and generic works with an animated and energetic mood.

This art genre came into play at a time when the foundations of capitalism were being laid by the world's growing economies and art was expanding in new and exciting directions.

The success of the Baroque style was promoted by the Roman Catholic Church, which had decided, in response to the Protestant Reformation that art should focus on religious themes and emotional involvement. The aristocracy also saw Baroque art as a means of demonstrating wealth and power.

Flemish Baroque painting developed out of the Southern Netherlands between about 1585 and 1700. Flanders' art scene prospered during this time too and many talented artists emerged including Adriaen Brouwer.

Flemish Baroque painting saw emphasis shift to still-life, genre paintings of everyday scenes and landscape painting. Adriaen Brouwer was a genre painter who reveled in domestic and street scenes and events taking place in local taverns. Brouwer is possibly the greatest painter of the lower classes the world has ever known.

To find out more about Adriaen Brouwer please refer to the recommended reading list below.

• Knuttel, Gerard. Adriaen Brouwer. The Master And His Work. The Hague, 1962
• McCall, George Henry. Paintings by the Great Dutch Masters of the Seventeenth Century. Kessinger Publishing Co. , 2005
• Schmidt, Benjamin. Innocence Abroad: The Dutch Imagination and the New World, 1570-1670. Cambridge University Press, 2001
• Silver, Larry. Peasant Scenes and Landscapes: The Rise of Pictorial Genres in the Antwerp Art Market. University of Pennsylvania Press, 2006
• Slive, Seymour. Dutch Painting, 1600-1800 (Yale University Press Pelican History of Art Series. Yale University Press, 1998
• Van Deursen, A. Th. Plain Lives in a Golden Age: Popular Culture, Religion and Society in Seventeenth-Century Holland. Cambridge University Press, 1991
• Vlieghe, H. Flemish Art and Architecture 1585-1700 (Yale University Press Pelican History of Art Series). Yale University Press, 1999
• Yeazell, Ruth Bernard. Art of the Everyday: Dutch Painting and the Realist Novel. Princeton University Press, 2007