CRAESBEECK, Josse van
(b. ca. 1605, Neerlinter, d. ca. 1661, Bruxelles)

Tavern Scene

1635-39
Oil on panel, 54 x 65 cm
Koninklijk Museum voor Schone Kunsten, Antwerp

Craesbeeck's early work before 1640 possesses a rather monochrome tonality. From that time date several caricatured heads of peasants, executed with remarkably free touch. Compositions with more figures can also be placed in this early period because of their dark atmospheric tonality defined by chiaroscuro, as seen in the Tavern Scene showing a quarrel at an inn.