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"Arme Luide" ("Poor People), Grisaille, Oil on Panel

Description
The Dutch painter and designer of prints and bookillustrations, Adriaen Van de Venne, painted his first grisailles or ‘grauwtjes’ during the years 1626-1630. He focused on this genre after settling in The Hague. Grisailles or paintings in shades of grey were cheaper than paintings in full colour. Moreover, Van de Venne painted his grisailles with very smooth and quick brush strokes, which meant a saving of time and therefore also money. His conscious choice for a fairly neutral background should also be seen within this economy of sources and time. This painting in landscape format probably dates from the first half of the 1630s when he developed the grisaille as his speciality. In that period, he mainly painted peasants and beggars, often partying or engaged in a fight. Van de Venne’s paintings often had bands with inscriptions revealing the subject. Here, one reads in the lower-left corner ‘arme luid’, meaning ‘poor people’.