The Smokers

The Fleming Brouwer worked in Haarlem and Amsterdam before joining the Antwerp painters' guild in 1621–32. HIs sheer talent and flair for human comedy earned the short-lived artist the esteem of Rubens and Rembrandt. In this famous picture, Brouwer himself (center foreground) plays one of his usual tavern habitués, with the still-life painter Jan de Heem (right) and more derelict companions serving as a chorus of smokers. Ephemeral effects, ranging from shifting highlights to funny faces, were prized as examples of artistic virtuosity.

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Notes:
Engraved by W. Steeling; lithographed by F. H. Weissenbruch [both published in Horst Scholz, Brouwer Invenit: druckgraphische Reproduktionen des 17.–19. Jahrhunderts nach Gemälden und Zeichnungen Adriaen Brouwers, Marburg, 1985, pp. 229, 234, figs. 209, 217].

This painting commemorates the friendship of Brouwer and the Dutch still-life painter Jan Davidsz. de Heem by including both their portraits: Brouwer's is in the left foreground and de Heem's to the right. The prominent figure at the far left may be the Antwerp painter Jan Cossiers. This picture inspired Teniers, who frequently painted Brouwer-like smoking scenes, to represent himself in Brouwer's place, pose, and setting at least twice (see Díaz Padrón 1975, pls. 261–63). A modest copy of Brouwer's entire composition, but with liberties taken, as in the versions by Teniers, probably was produced in the latter's studio (National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin). The Smoker (Louvre, Paris), most likely by Brouwer's pupil Joos van Craesbeeck, must be another response to, rather than a study for, Brouwer's self-portrait in the Museum's picture.
(Source: Metropolitan Museum of Art)