Tavern Scene
Historical Context
Teniers's Tavern Scene from 1658 represents his mature approach to the peasant tavern subject that was central to his output throughout his career. By 1658, Teniers had been court painter to the Archduke Leopold Wilhelm in Brussels for seven years, enjoying the patronage of a major art collector and access to the Habsburg collection. His mature tavern scenes are more carefully composed and technically refined than his early Antwerp work, the figures arranged with theatrical precision within the warm, smoky interior. The tavern was simultaneously a social fact — the primary gathering place of the Dutch and Flemish lower orders — and a moral emblem, its combination of drinking, gaming, and mixed company providing material for either moralistic critique or cheerful celebration.
Technical Analysis
Teniers's mature panel technique achieves luminous, silvery tones that distinguish his later work from the warmer palette of his early career. The interior is rendered with careful attention to atmospheric light, while the peasant figures are painted with the lively characterization and refined detail that made Teniers the most collected Flemish painter of his generation.
Provenance
Prince Golitzyn, Paris; (sale, Lebrun, Paris, 28 February 1825, no. 40, as _Chapeau rouge_); (De Fontaine).[1] M. Boursault, Paris; (his sale, at his residence, Coutellier and Paillet, Paris, 7 May 1832, no. 53); purchased by (Falkner), probably for Edmund Higginson [1802-1871], Saltmarshe Castle, near Bromyard, Herefordshire;[2] (his sale, Christie & Manson, London, 4 June 1846, no. 207, as _Card Players-Chapeau Rouge_); Falkner.[3] Samuel Sandars, Esq.; by inheritance to his wife, Mrs. Samuel Sandars.[4] Alan Rofe, London.[5] (sale, Christie, Manson & Woods, London, 15 March 1929, no. 70); (De Casseres).[6] Ernst Wilhelm Sachs, London; (sale, Sotheby's, London, 24 June 1970, no. 99, as _A Tavern Scene ["Le Chapeau Rouge"]_); (Terry-Engell Gallery, London); sold October 1972 to Robert H. and Clarice Smith, Washington, D.C.; gift 1975 to NGA. [1] The exact identity of the prince is unknown; two possibilities are Dmitry Alexseevich Golitzyn (1734-1803), who was the Russian ambassador to France for many years and negotiated numerous acquisitions and commissions on behalf of the Hermitage, or Dmitry Mikhailovich Golitzyn (1721-1793), also a diplomat and the first member of the family to collect privately on a large scale. The painting was known at that time by the title _Le Chapeau Rouge_. An annotated copy of the catalogue in the Rijksbureau voor Kunsthistorische Documentatie (RKD) lists the buyer as "de Fontaine." The entry indicates that the painting had, at one point, already been engraved under the title _Chapeau rouge_. [2] An annotated copy of the 1832 sale catalogue in the RKD lists the buyer as "Falkner" (see n. 3; no "u"). John Smith, _A Catalogue Raisonné of the Works of the Most Eminent Dutch, Flemish and French Painters_, 9 vols., London, 1829-1842: 9(1842):no. 210, describes the painting as "Purchased with the Boursault Collection for E. Higginson, Esq." [3] Algernon Graves, _Art Sales from Early in the Eighteenth Century to Early in the Twentieth Century (Mostly Old Master and Early English Pictures_, 3 vols., London, 1918-1921: 3(1921):199, 331 cites "Faulkner" as the purchaser, although the name is spelled "Falkner" in an annotated copy of the sale catalogue (in NGA curatorial files). This is possibly the same buyer as at the 1832 sale. [4] Mr. Sandars is listed as the owner of the painting when it was exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1882. After his death Mrs. Sandars came into possession of the picture, for she is listed as its owner in the 1908 _Winter Exhibition_ at the Royal Academy. [5] Alan Rofe is cited as a previous owner, following Sandars, in the 1970 auction catalogue. [6] The name De Casseres (possibly an art dealer or Arthur de Casseres) is found in an annotated copy of the auction catalogue in the Frick Art Reference Library, New York. Once again, the painting is listed as _Le Chapeau Rouge_.
