Begging Musicians

Jan van der Venne’s pictures of gypsies, as well as toothdrawers and musicians, mostly dressed in archaic costumes, have a pronouncedly vicious and caricaturish appearance. In spirit they are closely related to Brouwer’s work, but the style differs essentially from his. Van der Venne’s glaring lighting and his preference for wrinkled, eroded faces and a type of figure that is painted as if rough-hewn from hard stone, is very individual.