Artwork
The Quack
The Quack is an oil painting by the Dutch Golden Age artist Adriaen van Ostade. It dates from 1648 and is held in the collection of the Rijksmuseum.
About this work
Technique & Style
The Quack is executed in oil paint on panel, a combination characteristic of seventeenth-century Dutch cabinet pictures.
The Quack is executed in oil paint on panel, a combination characteristic of seventeenth-century Dutch cabinet pictures. According to the catalogue record, the work measures 27.5 cm in height by 22 cm in width, making it a small-scale easel painting suited to intimate viewing.
Stylistically, the picture belongs to the genre painting tradition associated with Adriaen van Ostade's Haarlem workshop, where scenes of everyday life, including the quack-doctor subject, were rendered with anecdotal detail and close observation of common figures. The modest panel support is consistent with the format Van Ostade favoured for such genre subjects.
History & Provenance
The Quack was painted by Adriaen van Ostade in 1648, executed in oil on panel in Haarlem. Its dimensions are recorded as approximately 27.5 by 22 cm, with an alternative measurement of 27 by 22 cm also noted.
The work was at one point owned by Leendert Dupper. It is now associated with three institutional holdings: the Rijksmuseum, the Frans Hals Museum, and the Dienst Verspreide Rijkscollecties, the Dutch state service responsible for the dispersed national art collection.
No information about a specific commission has been documented in the available sources.
Legacy
The Quack, painted by Adriaen van Ostade in 1648, contributed to the development of Dutch genre painting through its expressive characterization and domestic setting, influencing later artists who depicted everyday life. Its inclusion in prominent collections such as the Rijksmuseum and Frans Hals Museum has ensured continued visibility within art-historical discourse, reinforcing its reputation as a representative example of mid-17th-century Haarlem school output. The work's technical execution in oil on panel and its attribution to van Ostade have been cited in scholarly analyses of genre painting's evolution during the Dutch Golden Age.
Overview
The Quack is a 1648 oil painting by Adriaen van Ostade, categorized as a genre scene. It is part of the Rijksmuseum's collection.
Subject & Meaning
The painting shows a lively outdoor gathering around a table, with a man in a red hat addressing the crowd while holding a small object. The scene is set in a rural or village environment, with trees and buildings in the background.
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Artist & collection
Artist
Adriaen van Ostade (baptized as Adriaen Jansz Hendricx 10 December 1610 – buried 2 May 1685) was a Dutch Golden Age painter of genre works, showing the everyday life of ordinary men and women.
- The Wedding Contract
A Party of Peasants
Peasants Playing Cards
Conviviality Near the Inn
Travellers at Rest
The Organ-Grinder Outside a Cottage
The Fortune Teller
Joseph Interpreting the Dreams of the Baker and the Butler (Genesis 40:1-19)
Soldiers and Women
Figures before a Village Inn
Harvesting the Vines
The Peddlar