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Head of a Bearded Man in a Hat

ca. 1650
Not on view
One of the emblematic painters of seventeenth-century Holland, Adriaen van Ostade was also a prolific draftsman. This sensitive drawing is arguably the best of a small group of head studies by him. Three of those, all in the British Museum, London, also depict an old peasant in a hat, possibly the same model. All four studies may have been done from life. Because this drawing represents its subject not as a type or caricature but as a stern-looking, even melancholy human marked by life, it can be called an exception in the oeuvre of Van Ostade, whose figures are usually seen laughing, drinking, smoking and dancing—or worse. The modest subject of the drawing contrasts with its refined technique. In addition to red and black chalk, Van Ostade used blue pastel to subtly color the hat and the man's jerkin.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Head of a Bearded Man in a Hat
  • Artist: Adriaen van Ostade (Dutch, Haarlem 1610–1685 Haarlem)
  • Date: ca. 1650
  • Medium: Black and red chalk, blue pastel
  • Dimensions: Sheet: 3 3/4 x 3 1/2 in. (9.6 x 8.9 cm)
  • Classification: Drawings
  • Credit Line: Purchase, Walter and Leonore Annenberg Acquisitions Endowment and Frits and Rita Markus Funds, 2010
  • Object Number: 2010.440
  • Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints

More Artwork

More Artwork
Reading the News at the Weavers' Cottage, Adriaen van Ostade Dutch, Pen and brown ink, watercolor, white heightening, over graphite; framing lines in pen and brown ink and gold
Reading the News at the Weavers' Cottage
Adriaen van Ostade
1673
Marketplace of Delft with the Nieuwekerk, Gerrit Toorenburgh Dutch, Pen and gray ink, brush and gray wash
Marketplace of Delft with the Nieuwekerk
Gerrit Toorenburgh
18th century
Portrait of Nicolas Trigault in Chinese Costume, Peter Paul Rubens Flemish, Black, red, and white chalk, blue pastel, and pen and brown and black ink on light brown laid paper
Portrait of Nicolas Trigault in Chinese Costume
Peter Paul Rubens
1617
Peasants Drinking, verso: sketches of peasants, Adriaen van Ostade Dutch, Pen and brown ink, watercolor. Framing line in black ink & chalk<br/>verso: pen and brown ink
Peasants Drinking, verso: sketches of peasants
Attributed to Adriaen van Ostade
1610–85
St. John the Baptist Pointing to Christ, Willem van Oordt Dutch, Point of brush and brown ink and wash over traces of black chalk, framing line in point of the brush and brown wash
St. John the Baptist Pointing to Christ
Willem van Oordt
17th century

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