Jan Steen

#ArtSaturday Jan Havickszoon Steen, c. 1626 – 1679
17th century Dutch Golden Age genre painter

Self-Portrait, 1670
(one of the few self-portraits where he portrays himself as “serious”) pic.twitter.com/qmrfdxqeFQ

— Dr. Alexandria Szeman: #BelieveSurvivors (@Alexandria_SZ) July 6, 2019

#ArtSaturday Steen
His works are known for their bright colors.

Winter Scene, 1650 pic.twitter.com/O5YesR0WxE

— Dr. Alexandria Szeman: #BelieveSurvivors (@Alexandria_SZ) July 6, 2019

#ArtSaturday Steen
Steen is well known for his masterful portrayl of light in his paintings.

Peasants Before an Inn, 1650 pic.twitter.com/1bvKN6zpTs

— Dr. Alexandria Szeman: #BelieveSurvivors (@Alexandria_SZ) July 6, 2019

#ArtSaturday Steen
Steen was well known during his lifetime and was valued by his contemporary artists.

A Burgomeister and His Daughter (Adolf and Catharina Croeser in Delft), 1655 pic.twitter.com/fAyljhbhcI

— Dr. Alexandria Szeman: #BelieveSurvivors (@Alexandria_SZ) July 6, 2019

#ArtSaturday Steen
Steen was the oldest of 8 children, born into a well-to-do family of brewers.

A Game of Bowling, 1655 pic.twitter.com/M01sPWBVZS

— Dr. Alexandria Szeman: #BelieveSurvivors (@Alexandria_SZ) July 6, 2019

#ArtSaturday Steen
Steen studied painting and became a student of a well-known landscape painter, van Goyen. Steen married van Goyen’s daughter.

The Drunken Couple, 1655 pic.twitter.com/qrclcu3fLy

— Dr. Alexandria Szeman: #BelieveSurvivors (@Alexandria_SZ) July 6, 2019

#ArtSaturday Steen
Steen ran a brewery in Delft for three years but was not financially successful at it.

Baker Arendt Oostwaert and His Wife, 1658 pic.twitter.com/pyEHfxP55I

— Dr. Alexandria Szeman: #BelieveSurvivors (@Alexandria_SZ) July 6, 2019

#ArtSaturday Steen
Steen painted scenes of ordinary people going about their daily life, a relatively unknown genre at the time he was creating art.

The Toilette, 1658-59 pic.twitter.com/5tbgA9dNyA

— Dr. Alexandria Szeman: #BelieveSurvivors (@Alexandria_SZ) July 6, 2019

#ArtSaturday Steen

Skittles Players Outside an Inn, 1660 pic.twitter.com/Oq7QrQsmpW

— Dr. Alexandria Szeman: #BelieveSurvivors (@Alexandria_SZ) July 6, 2019

#ArtSaturday Steen
Steen’s work often portrays people in less than honorable behavior, such as gambling, drinking, picking pockets.

The Card Players in an Interior, 1660 pic.twitter.com/n1hd9doBDz

— Dr. Alexandria Szeman: #BelieveSurvivors (@Alexandria_SZ) July 6, 2019

#ArtSaturday Steen
Steen painted landscapes, interiors, groups, mythological paintings, religious subjects.

The Marriage of Tobias and Sarah with the Angel Raphael Binding the Demon, 1660 pic.twitter.com/8ttdxnWDLI

— Dr. Alexandria Szeman: #BelieveSurvivors (@Alexandria_SZ) July 6, 2019

#ArtSaturday Steen
Steen’s portrayals of family life were often boisterously rowdy and “messy.”

Feast of St. Nicholas, 1665-68 pic.twitter.com/Bkbw82SfDz

— Dr. Alexandria Szeman: #BelieveSurvivors (@Alexandria_SZ) July 6, 2019

#ArtSaturday Steen
Steen’s paintings of families were so lively and exuberant that a contemporaneous Dutch proverb “Jan Steen’s household” meant a lively and chaotic scene.

The Prince’s Day, c 1660 pic.twitter.com/ndSr9XjR25

— Dr. Alexandria Szeman: #BelieveSurvivors (@Alexandria_SZ) July 6, 2019

#ArtSaturday Steen

Woman in an Interior Feeding a Parrot, also known as The Parrot Cage, c 1660-1670 pic.twitter.com/JxvY98Q08V

— Dr. Alexandria Szeman: #BelieveSurvivors (@Alexandria_SZ) July 6, 2019

#ArtSaturday Steen
Steen is famous for his portrayals of rascally or rowdy children.

Children Teaching a Cat to Dance, also The Dancing Lesson, c 1660-70 pic.twitter.com/TBCkq7sdFz

— Dr. Alexandria Szeman: #BelieveSurvivors (@Alexandria_SZ) July 6, 2019

#ArtSaturday Steen

Woman at her Toilette, 1665 pic.twitter.com/gVFyaW69ki

— Dr. Alexandria Szeman: #BelieveSurvivors (@Alexandria_SZ) July 6, 2019

#ArtSaturday Steen
Steen often used members of his family as his models for his paintings.

Beware of Luxury, 1663 pic.twitter.com/8N7GRSLMGM

— Dr. Alexandria Szeman: #BelieveSurvivors (@Alexandria_SZ) July 6, 2019

#ArtSaturday Steen
In Steen’s family paintings, the adults are often teaching or encouraging the children to imitate bad behavior, such as drinking or smoking.

The Merry Family, 1668 pic.twitter.com/JlzazoSXaz

— Dr. Alexandria Szeman: #BelieveSurvivors (@Alexandria_SZ) July 6, 2019

#ArtSaturday Steen
Steen often put himself, in comical roles, in his paintings.

Fantasy Interior with Jan Steen and the Family of Gerrit Schouten, 1663
(Steen is in front of fireplace) pic.twitter.com/No9vLe2j2Q

— Dr. Alexandria Szeman: #BelieveSurvivors (@Alexandria_SZ) July 6, 2019

#ArtSaturday Steen
In his famous The Way You Hear It (1665), Steen’s wife is in the left foreground, luxuriously drinking, and Steen himself is to the right background, in hat, laughingly teaching the youngster how to smoke. pic.twitter.com/X1XAiafZBt

— Dr. Alexandria Szeman: #BelieveSurvivors (@Alexandria_SZ) July 6, 2019

#ArtSaturday Steen
Steen created over 800 paintings: of these, 350 survive.

The Dancing Couple, 1663 pic.twitter.com/Dburyi4rEk

— Dr. Alexandria Szeman: #BelieveSurvivors (@Alexandria_SZ) July 6, 2019

#ArtSaturday Steen
Though well-known in his lifetime and respected by his contemporaries, Steen never made enough money from his art to support himself (and his large family).

The Drawing Lesson, 1665 pic.twitter.com/nVoMoyXxo8

— Dr. Alexandria Szeman: #BelieveSurvivors (@Alexandria_SZ) July 6, 2019

♦
Related Posts