National Gallery of Art

Biography

Baptized on December 10, 1610 in Haarlem, Adriaen van Ostade was the third of the eight children of Jan Hendricx van Eyndhoven and Janneke Hendriksdr. Although no documents survive relating to Ostade's training, Houbraken (see person bibliography) states that he studied with Frans Hals. He also says that Adriaen Brouwer (1606-1638), the Flemish painter of low-life and tavern scenes who lived in Haarlem until 1631, was a pupil of Hals at about the same time. Whether or not the two artists were fellow pupils, Brouwer's influence is readily apparent in Ostade's early works.

By June 8, 1632, Ostade was working as an artist. Due to incomplete guild records, the date that he entered the Haarlem guild is unknown. Nevertheless, the painter was certainly a member by 1634, since one of his paintings was included in a lottery of guild members' works that Dirck Hals (1591-1656) organized in April of that year. Two years later he is recorded as a member of the Oude Schuts civic guard company. Later in his career, Ostade played an active part in the administration of the St. Luke's Guild, holding office as hoofdman in 1647 and 1661, and as deken in 1662. It must have been at about the time he was elected hoofdman in 1647 that Frans Hals painted his portrait (NGA 1937.1.70).

On July 26, 1638 Ostade married Macheltje Pietersdr. They drew up a will on March 8, 1642, six weeks before she died. Fifteen years later, on May 26, 1657, Ostade married Anna Ingels, a wealthy Catholic from Amsterdam. Ostade appears to have converted to Catholicism at this time. His second marriage also prompted a change in residence. After living for some years in the house on the Cromme Elleboochsteech that Ostade had purchased in September 1650, the couple settled first in the Koningstraat, and by August 1663, moved to the Veerstraat. The couple had one child, a daughter named Johanna Maria. In 1655 Ostade became guardian of his sister Maeyeken's five children, and from 1668 was also responsible for the children of his brother Jan. After the death of Anna late in 1666, Ostade inherited considerable sums both from her and from her father. His prolific output must also have provided a substantial income, and by 1670 he was living in relative comfort on the Ridderstraat. In 1672, however, at the time of the French invasion of the Netherlands, Ostade temporarily fled Haarlem and moved to Amsterdam.

On April 21, 1685, Ostade was a signatory to his daughter's marriage settlement. Six days later he died and was buried in Saint Bavo's on May 2. According to an announcement placed by his daughter in the Haarlem Courant on 19 June, the contents of the artist's studio were to be sold at auction on 3-4 July; a second sale is known to have taken place on April 27, 1686.

Ostade's productivity was remarkable. His known works include more than eight hundred paintings, about fifty etchings, and numerous drawings, some of which are subtly tinted with watercolor. The vast majority of this oeuvre consists of genre scenes, but he also produced a small number of portraits and history paintings. It is likely that Ostade's younger brother Isack was an early pupil, and other artists who may have studied with him include Jan Steen, Cornelis Bega (1631/1632-1664), Michiel van Musscher (1645-1705), and Cornelis Dusart (1660-1704). [This is an edited version of the artist's biography published, or to be published, in the NGA Systematic Catalogue]

Bibliography

1661

De Bie, Cornelis. Het Gulden Cabinet van de edele vry Schilderconst. Antwerp, 1661: 258.

1729

Weyerman, J. C. De levens beschryvingen der nederlandsche konstschilders en konstschilderessen. 4 vols. The Hague, 1729-1769: 2:91.

1753

Houbraken 1753, 1:320, 347-349.

1829

Smith, John. A Catalogue Raisonné of the Works of the Most Eminent Dutch, Flemish and French Painters. 9 vols. London, 1829-1842: 1(1829):107-178; 9(1842):79-136.

1869

Gaedertz, Theodor. Adrian van Ostade: Sein Leben und seine Kunst. Lübeck, 1869.

1870

Van der Willigen 1870, 21-23, 29, 233-241.

1900

Rosenberg, Adolf. Adriaen und Isack van Ostade. Bielefeld, 1900.

1907

Hofstede de Groot, Cornelis. A Catalogue Raisonné of the Works of the Most Eminent Dutch Painters of the Seventeenth Century.... 8 vols., translated from the German edition. London, 1907-1917: 3(1910):140-436.

1960

Kuznetsov, Iurii. Adriaen van Ostade. Exh. cat. The Hermitage, St. Petersburg, 1960.

1980

Miedema, Hessel. De archiefbescheiden van het St. Lukasgilde te Haarlem. 2 vols. Alphen aan den Rijn, 1980: 2:613, 665-672, 1060-1062.

1981

Schnackenburg, Bernhard. Adriaen van Ostade, Isack van Ostade: Zeichnungen und Aquarelle. 2 vols. Hamburg, 1981.

1984

Philadelphia 1984, 281-289.

1990

Godefroy, Louis. The Complete Etchings of Adriaen van Ostade. San Francisco, 1990.

1992

MacLaren, Neil. National Gallery Catalogues: The Dutch School 1600-1900. Revised and expanded by Christopher Brown. London, 1992: 297-298.

1995

Wheelock, Jr., Arthur K. Dutch Paintings of the Seventeenth Century. The Collections of the National Gallery of Art Systematic Catalogue. Washington, D.C., 1995: 184-185.