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Reading the News at the Weavers' Cottage

1673
Not on view
This scene of a man reading the news surrounded by family and friends within the sunlit confines of a weavers' cottage epitomizes the rustic scenes of peasant life for which Ostade is so well known. Linen weaving, a profession practiced only by men, became the most important and lucrative occupation in Haarlem in the seventeenth century. Ostade celebrated the economic profit brought about by this industry in this outstanding watercolor, an autonomous work of art, and one which remained famous through the eighteenth century.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Reading the News at the Weavers' Cottage
  • Artist: Adriaen van Ostade (Dutch, Haarlem 1610–1685 Haarlem)
  • Date: 1673
  • Medium: Pen and brown ink, watercolor, white heightening, over graphite; framing lines in pen and brown ink and gold
  • Dimensions: 9 5/8 x 7 15/16 in. (24.4 x 20.2 cm)
  • Classification: Drawings
  • Credit Line: Bequest of Lore Heinemann, in memory of her husband, Dr. Rudolf J. Heinemann, 1996
  • Object Number: 1997.117.10
  • Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints

More Artwork

More Artwork
Man with a Tankard, Adriaen van Ostade Dutch, Oil on wood
Man with a Tankard
Style of Adriaen van Ostade
Soprano Recorder in B, Thomas Coenraet Boekhout Dutch, Ebony, ivory, Dutch
Soprano Recorder in B
Thomas Coenraet Boekhout
ca. 1700
Eastern Coast of Rügen with Shepherd, Caspar David Friedrich German, Pen and brown ink, brush and brown wash, over graphite, with white opaque watercolor; partial framing lines in pen and brown-black ink
Eastern Coast of Rügen with Shepherd
Caspar David Friedrich
1805–6
Peasants Carousing in a Barn, Adriaen van Ostade Dutch, Pen and brown ink and brown, gray, and reddish brown wash over black chalk.
Peasants Carousing in a Barn
Style of Adriaen van Ostade
late 1630s
Shaffron (Horse's Head Defense), Steel, gold, leather, Dutch
Shaffron (Horse's Head Defense)
Dutch
ca. 1620

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