Cornelis Dusart Haarlem 1660 - 1704

Sir Charles Greville (L.549);
sale, London, Sotheby's, 21 March 1973, lot 66 

During the period around 1685-95, Dusart made a considerable number of lively, finished watercolors of this type, undoubtedly intended for sale as independent works of art.  Most of them represent the sort of peasant subjects beloved of his teacher and chief inspiration, Adriaen van Ostade, but Dusart treated these subjects in a highly individual and rather more decorative manner, producing works like this, which make a significant and original contribution to late 17th-century Dutch drawing.  For a more detailed discussion of Dusart's watercolors of this type, see William W. Robinson, Bruegel to Rembrandt. Dutch and Flemish Drawings from the Maida and George Abrams Collection, exh. cat., London, British Museum, et al., 2002-3, cat. nos. 89-91.