The Family - Adriaen van Ostade

Stanley Field Endowment

"The Family" by Adriaen van Ostade (1647) Etching in black on ivory laid paper.

Commentary

"The Family" by Adriaen van Ostade (1647) invites a close look at how form and feeling work together. The print-based method rewards close viewing, where line, texture, and contrast do most of the expressive work. Themes to notice include print. This piece is held in the source collection's Prints and Drawings collection. Adriaen van Ostade is the artist behind this work. A useful anchor for reading the piece: Adriaen van Ostade Dutch, 1610-1685. The work is cataloged within a Holland cultural context. How to look at this work: It is cataloged as print, which gives a clue to how the museum frames the object. Its medium (Etching in black on ivory laid paper) affects texture, durability, and how detail reads at different distances. Its listed dimensions (Image: 17.4 × 15.4 cm (6 7/8 × 6 1/8 in.); Sheet: 17.5 × 15.5 cm (6 15/16 × 6 1/8 in.)) suggest how intimate or monumental it may feel in person. Subject cues from the catalog include print. Compare this reading with the museum record at the source collection: https://www.artic.edu/artworks/15225

Sources: Art Institute of Chicago; Art Institute of Chicago / Public Records; Art Institute of Chicago Collection Data