Head of a Bearded Man in a Hat
Adriaen van Ostade Dutch
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.
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