Drunkards

Cornelis Dusart

1685

20 x 25 cm, frames 38 x 43 cm

Oak panel, oil

Unknown

Private collection

findart Cornelis Dusart is a Dutch genre artist, draftsman, and engraver. He was born in Haarlem in 1660, the son of a church organist. In his youth, he studied painting with Adrian van Ostade from about 1675 to 1679. He was admitted to the Haarlem Guild of St. Luke in 1679.

His early works are similar in style to those of his mentor. Like his teacher, Adrian van Ostade, Cornelis Dusart specialized in depicting the daily life of the Dutch lower class. Only after the death of his teacher he developed his own, more sophisticated style.

The drinking and smoking peasants depicted by Dusart were probably not intended to expose vices, but rather served as a reflection of the folk theater. The published prints of these paintings influenced the Dutch caricature. Until his death in 1704, Dusart collected remarkable paintings by the Italian and Dutch artists that inspired him the most.