A somewhat crude-looking man has just swallowed a bitter
medicine and his face expresses his disgust of it in all possible ways. The
painting, which depicts the man’s physical reflexes quite convincingly, may be a
representation of the sense of taste. Some parts of the canvas, especially the
background, are painted rather roughly, but the facial features are rendered
very precisely.
Its creator, Adriaen Brouwer (1605–1638), specialized in
witty low-life scenes, mostly of drunken peasants, brawls and debauchery. Such
scenes were popular among townspeople who would look with amusement at these
uncivilized figures. Amongst his many admirers were both Rubens and Rembrandt,
who had quite a few of his paintings in their personal collections.
There are many uncertainties about Brouwer’s life. For
example, it is assumed, but not proven, that he was originally from Flanders. Furthermore,
there is no concrete evidence for the current theory that he was a pupil of
Frans Hals. It is not unlikely though, because we know that Brouwer was active
as a painter in Hals’s residence Haarlem before settling for good in Antwerp in
the early thirties. Brouwer's style also points in this direction: it combines the
individuality and loose working method typical of Dutch artists like Hals with the
Flemish interest in peasant scenes.
The lack of biographical data led to a stream of speculations
about his personal life. A romantic image was created of a bohemian artist who drank and
smoked all the time, painting in crowded pubs, amidst his subjects. Such
assumptions arose from the well-known tendency to identify an artist with his work.
In the case
of Adriaen Brouwer, we shall never be fully able to separate myth and reality.
What’s left is a magnificent oeuvre, full of vibrant paintings that offer a
glimpse into a raw world from centuries ago.
(text:
Maarten Gaillard)
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