Dutch school, 17th century

17th century Dutch school.
"Tavern Scene".
Oil on canvas.
The canvas has a tear in the upper left part. Slight damage to the margins due to an old frame.
Measurements: 60 x 91 cm.
Placed in a modest interior, the present scene shows an inconsequential subject placed in a tavern. Three humble men and a woman, all of them dressed in the fashion of the moment and of the area, are situated around a table, seated on barrels turned into chairs. The figures converse with each other, as can be deduced from their gestures, and are accompanied by a series of elements, the qualities of which the artist has been concerned with, as has been customary in the school since the Gothic works and the introduction of oil as a binding agent with the so-called Flemish ones.
This work therefore belongs to the genre of tavern painting, created in early Baroque Flanders by the masters Adriaen Brouwer (1605-1638) and David Teniers (1610-1690), which was soon to arrive in Holland. As the name suggests, these are tavern scenes, known as costumbrist works because they depict the common practices of the common people of the time, with a considerable variety of styles, but always maintaining both the subject matter and a clear preference for an earthy palette. Influenced by the two masters mentioned above, the painter who produced this type of work usually worked an interior space with a very refined chromatic range, based on earthy and ochre tones, typical of early Baroque naturalism. In terms of style, these painters would normally be close to Teniers (more detailed works; precise, loose but short brushstrokes, defining the forms and qualities of figures and objects, without playing down the importance of the drawing) or Brower (more caricatured style, and brushstrokes and forms different from those of Teniers).