The Back Operation
- Date of Creation:
- 1636
- Height (cm):
- 34.00
- Length (cm):
- 27.00
- Medium:
- Oil
- Support:
- Wood
- Subject:
- Scenery
- Art Movement:
- Baroque
- Created by:
- Current Location:
- Frankfurt, Germany
- Displayed at:
- Städel Museum
- Owner:
- Städel Museum
The Back Operation Story / Theme
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The Back Operation
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The Back Operation
The Back Operation is one of Adriaen Brouwer's many surgical works showing an operation being performed on a member of lower class by an unfit doctor. Some people even acted as doctors and had no medical training, such as local barbers who were used for their skill with a blade.
Brouwer befriended many peasants and spent a great deal of time in local taverns and streets and its likely to have been the reason why he produced several works on this theme, showing how 'surgery' was carried out on the poor who could not afford a qualified doctor. These operations probably took place in the back room of a tavern or inn.
In The Back Operation the viewer sees a young man wincing in pain as the surgeon opens the flesh on his back to remove what can be assumed to have been a skin infection or a boil. Skin infections were common in the past especially during this period because of a lack of hygiene and were commonly found on the back where it was exposed to regular friction, sweat and irritation.
It's likely that the man being operated on had a few rounds of ale to numb his pain. The 'operating theatre' contains the most basic of tools that were used in everyday life. On the table are a few cotton wheels available for stitching the wound, some alcohol for disinfectant, a thin slicing knife and a magnifying glass held by the woman or 'nurse'.
Depictions such as this were fairly common in the Netherland and other artists who created work on this theme include Bosch and Brueghel.
The Back Operation Analysis
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The Back Operation
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The Back Operation
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The Back Operation
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The Back Operation
Composition:
The Back Operation is situated on three planes formed on top of each other. The depth of the work is defined by the positioning of the characters in the scene. Brouwer also accentuated space and dimension by the shadow contrasts he created and the light sources which he painted in the dim lit room.
Depth created by the positioned bodies and the 'nurse' is painted the farthest in the image and her right side is darkened in the shadows.
The light source is most definitely coming from behind the doctor as it shines in full force on the patient's back. All objects and features before the patient and doctor are in shadow.
The eye is first drawn to the cringing patient whose body flexes to the right and the brightened objects on the table become apparent. The gaze then turns to the nurse whose body bends towards the fake doctor who leads us back to the patient, the focus of this work.
Color palette:
The color palette used for this work is similar to that of Hals. Brouwer's subjects are large and dominant in this scene and his bold colors with various over layers are also characteristic of Hals's paintings.
The colors evident in this piece are browns, white, greys, yellows, reds mixed with white and various oranges and some pinks. The artist's flesh tones vary as he uses several tones to accentuate the main subject matter in comparison to the burnished tones used for the doctor and nurse.
Brouwer painted the patient's skin in bright white tones to reinforce his central status and by doing so the viewer is aware of the patient's pain and emotion.
The doctor and nurse are painted using strong orange and slight red tones to show their flushed skin in the warm room. The reds can also be seen on the patient's face and he is also flushed, more than likely due to alcohol consumption. Brouwer uses dark and light browns to define facial muscles and expression.
Brush work:
The artist's brush work here also takes after Hals' approach to creating movement and definition with thick, broad strokes upon the canvas. For his final layer Brouwer uses a medium to thin width paint brush and applied white paint as an over layer while the bottom layer was still wet so that the white tone can be seen blending in with the stronger tones. The end result is streaks of light and dark paints in one stroke.
Brouwer has also used this technique with his light grey for the patient's shirt and the 'doctor's clothes. He can be seen using light brown and earthy greens in this manner for the background walls to help define the subject shape and presence.
His brush strokes are long and rough for the people, and seen to be thinner and smoother for the furniture.
The Back Operation Related Paintings
The Back Operation Artist
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Adriaen Brouwer
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David Teniers the Younger
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 Back Operation Art Period
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.
The Back Operation Bibliography
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