Pieter Jansz. Quast

The painter and draughtsman, Pieter Quast, was best known for his frequently moralising scenes from peasant life portrayed in the spirit of Adriaen Brouwer. There is often something exaggerated and caricature-like about his many coarse figures with their distorted features. Bearing that in mind, the present scene occupies a very special place in the artist’s drawn œuvre. A charming, expensively dressed young woman shows the little child she is holding on her lap the portrait of a man who is probably her husband. It may well be a memento mori. The careful drawing style and the tender, emotional mood give this excellently preserved sheet a special appeal.

Pieter Quast worked in his native Amsterdam until roughly 1632. There is documentary evidence that he was a member of the Guild of St. Luke in The Hague in 1634. The artist is known to have returned to Amsterdam before 1643 and lived and worked there until his death.

9.500 €