The empty jug.

Adriaen van Ostade (1610-85) was a major Dutch Golden Age artist. He probably trained in Frans Hals's Haarlem workshop, where the subject matter of fellow student Adriaen Brouwer, master of delicately painted boors carousing, determined Van Ostade's own themes. In his early work, Van Ostade depicted scenes of peasants engaged in debauchery using Rembrandt's forceful chiaroscuro. Later, he portrayed calmer, more respectable people in comfortable interiors with carefully structured spaces and picturesque clutter. By then, both he and the Netherlands had become more prosperous. An extremely prolific artist, Van Ostade produced hundreds of paintings; over 800 survive. He also painted portraits and still lifes and added figures to paintings by Pieter Saenredam, Jacob van Ruisdael, and others. Van Ostade's watercolors, about half of which were made after 1670, were attempts to duplicate the effect of his oil paintings through watercolor and were in much demand. His students included his considerably younger brother Isaack and Jan Steen.  

After Rembrandt, Van Ostade was the major Dutch printmaker of his day, producing 50 recorded etchings, and is well represented in Te Papa's collection. His prints were highly regarded by his contemporaries and remained enduringly popular long after his death and went through a number of editions.

This classic etching by Van Ostade is just about self-explanatory and is admirably summarised in Susan Dixon's edited catalogue, Printmakers of the Baroque: 17th Century Explorations of Space and Light (Philadelphia, 2013):

Two men reacts as their companion looks disgruntedly into an empty beer tankard. The standing man reaches into his jacket, perhaps in search of coins to pay for a refill. The seated one looks on with interest as he fills his pipe.

Van Ostade captures the realities of 17th century Dutch country folk. In this sparse setting, around a small table next to a boarded window, perhaps in an inn, the men gather to drink and smoke. Some critics read this depiction of peasants, with their odd-shaped hats, as ridiculing. Others see it as sympathetic, capturing the companionship of men after their hard labors (p. 61).

This impression is from the seventh of eight states, and was donated to the Colonial Museum by the Danish politician, bishop, collector and political refugee, Ditlev Monrad, in 1869, forming part of Te Papa's foundation art collection. Related prints in the same genre include Smoker leaning on the back of a seat (Te Papa 1869-0001-358) and The smoker and the drinker (1869-0001-362).

Sources:

Susan Dixon (ed.), Printmakers of the Baroque: 17th Century Explorations of Space and Light (exh. cat., La Salle University, Philadelphia, 2013)

The J. Paul Getty Museum, 'Adriaen van Ostade', http://www.getty.edu/art/collection/artists/460/adriaen-van-ostade-dutch-1610-1685/

Dr Mark Stocker    Curator, Historical International Art        March 2019