Adriaen van Ostade

Adriaen van Ostade was baptised in Haarlem on 10 December 1610, the third child of the linen weaver Jan Hendricx. van Eyndhoven and Janneke Hendriksdr. The surname 'Ostade', which he took, as did his brother Isaac, his junior by eleven years, probably referred to the village of Ostade near Eindhoven, his father's birthplace. All we know about his training comes from Houbraken, who describes him and Adriaen Brouwer as pupils of Frans Hals. In contrast to Brouwer, who was a lasting inspiration for Van Ostade in his choice of peasant themes, Hals had only a marginal influence. The earliest document to identify Van Ostade as a painter dates from 8 June 1632. In 1634 one of his paintings was included in a lottery. At that point he was apparently already a member of the Guild of St Luke, for the lottery featured works by members of the painters' guild. Two years later, Van Ostade joined a militia, the Oude Schuts-Compagnie. On 26 July 1638 he married the Haarlem native Machteltje Pietersdr., who died only four years later. The cost for her burial in St Bavokerk came to ten gulden, an unusually high amount, suggesting that Van Ostade was relatively well-to-do, especially since he left money to his wife's family in his will. In 1647 and 1661 he held the office of 'hoofdman', or captain, in the Guild of St Luke, and in the following year he served as dean. Fifteen years after the death of his first wife he married Anna Ingels, from Amsterdam, who bore him a daughter. Shortly after the couple made a will in November 1666, Anna Ingels also died. Her husband died nearly twenty years later. Five days after his death on 27 April 1685, Adriaen van Ostade was buried in the family tomb in Haarlelm's St Bavokerk. His estate included an extensive collection of paintings, among them more than 200 of his own works. There were also prints and fifty copper plates with his engravings. Adriaen van Ostade not only worked as a painter, but also left behind a large number of drawings and graphics. Among his pupils, in addition to his brother Isack, were Cornelis Bega and Cornelis Dusart. Other painters such as Pieter Saenredam had him paint the staffage figures in their pictures.