Ostade, Adriaen van

Ostade, Adriaen van (1610-1685), Dutch painter and engraver, born in Haarlem. He may have studied with the Dutch artist Frans Hals and later came under the influence of the great master Rembrandt; Ostade was probably the teacher of the genre painter Jan Steen. Ostade painted many small genre pictures, lively and vigorous and full of subtle effects of light and shade. His subject matter included tavern scenes, peasants drinking and smoking, itinerant musicians, village festivities, and quaint village characters. He also executed 50 etchings depicting peasant life. While his early works are generally filled with rowdy, bawdy characters, his works after around 1650 show more refined and respectable scenes.