BRAKENBURG, Richard

(b. 1650 Haarlem, d. 1702 Haarlem)

Dutch painter. A native of Haarlem, Brakenburg was the student of Hendrick Mommers. The greatest influence on his work, however, was Jan Steen, and Brakenburg’s most accomplished works have often been attributed to Steen.

Brakenburg, together with Cornelis Dusart, belonged to the second generation of students of Adriaen van Ostade. In his work the peasant genre became overlaid with petit-bourgeois mannerism and pictorial style became a cultivated convention.

Family Having Breakfast

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May Queen Festival

Richard Brakenburgh - together with Cornelis Dusart - belonged to the second generation of Adriaen van Ostade’s pupils. In his work the peasant genre became overlaid with petit-bourgeois mannerism and pictorial style became a cultivated convention.

The May Queen Festival imagines a lovely procession of country bumpkins, all as innocent as the girl who leads the quest for spring treats.

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St Nicholas Eve

In this depiction of St Nicholas Eve, Richard Brakenburg showed how it was celebrated in the seventeenth century: without today’s Sinterklaas but with presents nevertheless. The saint was not always equally generous. One boy has a cane in his shoe. He cries as his sister gets her presents. St Nicholas Eve is still celebrated in the Netherlands on 5 December with the centuries’ old tradition of gift giving.

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Tavern Interior

Brakenburg was probably a pupil of Adriaen van Ostade. In the present painting one can see some influence by Ostade.

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Tavern Interior

Most of Brakenburg’s genre scenes are clearly inspired by Jan Steen, who worked in Haarlem between 1661 and 1670. It is thought that Richard Brakenburg might have worked in his studio.

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