Brawling Peasants

Brouwer’s earliest work must be placed around 1625-26. It stands out for its bright local colour, with noticeable accents of red and pink. The composition consists of a compact group in the foreground of a fairly large number of figures resembling Bruegelesque caricatures. The present open-air scene from these earliest years of Brouwer’s activity is marked by a lack of spatial integration of the group of figures. The furiously gesticulating figures stand in front of a landscape that only serves as a kind of background decor.