Sketches of Pump, Washtub, Benches
Medium
Black chalk on ivory laid paper
Dimensions
13.3 × 17.7 cm (5 1/4 × 7 in.)
Classification
chalk
Department
Prints and Drawings
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
83879
Art Historical Context
Adriaen van Ostade'sSketches of Pump, Washtub, Benches offers a charming glimpse into the everyday world of 17th-century Dutch life. Created in black chalk on ivory laid paper this undated drawing measures a modest 13.3 × 17.7 cm, making it an intimate study perfect for an artist's sketchbook. Housed in the Art Institute Chicago's Prints and Drawings department, it captures rural objects—a water pump, washtub, and benches—with van Ostade's characteristic attention to humble details. A master of the Dutch Golden Age, van Ostade (1610–1685) was renowned for his genre scenes depicting peasants a...
About the Artist
Adriaen van Ostade · 1610–1685
Adriaen Jansz. van Ostade (1610-1685) was a Dutch Baroque painter and printmaker who specialized in genre scenes of peasant life. Born and raised in Haarlem, he became one of the most prolific and celebrated artists of the Dutch Golden Age, producing over 800 paintings, 50 etchings, and numerous drawings. Van Ostade's significance in art history lies in his masterful depiction of peasant life, a ...