Adriaen Van Ostade was a Dutch genre painter and etcher. The eldest son of Jan Hendricx Ostade, a weaver from the town of Ostade near Eindhoven, Adriaen van Ostade was born in Haarlem on December 10, 1610. Although Adriaen and his brother Isaak were born in Haarlem, they adopted the name "van Ostade" as painters. Van Ostade studied under Frans Hals in 1627 and was very influenced by fellow student Adriaen Brouwer (1605-1638). In 1634, he joined the Lukas Guild in Haarlem of which he was later the head in 1647, 1661, and 1662. He typically depicted scenes of peasant life: tavern brawls, village fairs, and country quarters. Occasionally, van Ostade painted Biblical subjects, portraits, and landscapes. Later in his career, he adopted a warmer palette and deeper chiaroscuro (high contrast) effects after the style of Harmensz van Rijn Rembrandt (1606-1669). He died in 1685, a well-known artist of his time.
