Adriaen Brouwer

Adriaen Brouwer, the party animal of the Flemish Baroque period.

He's known for his super sophisticated paintings such as “Peasants Brawling in a Tavern” and “Peasants Brawling over Cards”. The bohemian of the bohemians, Brouwer delighted in painting the seedy underbelly of 17th century Dutch society. He also delighted in partaking in the seediness and was known to enjoy an adult beverage every once in a while/all the time. Despite his love of the sauce, Adriaen Brouwer was a prolific artist who was so popular forgeries were made of his work while he was still alive. He was known for creating small, delicately rendered paintings of the foibles of humanity. This unflinching exploration of human emotions won him the praise of Rembrandt and Rubens, both collectors of his work. He had many patrons who purchased his work but poor Adriaen couldn’t keep himself in the black for long. Blame it on the hooch.

Born in Oudenaarde, Flanders (now Belgium) in 1605 or 1606, the details of his life are a bit sketchy (much like the company he preferred to keep as an adult). The young Brouwer moved to the Netherlands when he was just sixteen-ish to further his career. There he studied with Frans Hals, the Dutch Golden Age portrait painter while in Haarlem but eventually moved back to Flanders. A funny thing happened to Adrian when he returned to Flanders, he was arrested under the suspicion of being a Spanish spy…because he smelled of Tempranillo!?! In 1638 at the age of 32-ish, he died due to complications related to his love of a good drinky drink. Due to his financial situation Brouwer was buried in a common grave but after his main bro pitched a fit his remains were moved to the Church of the Carmelites in Antwerp.

If you should happen to be in Antwerp, visit the Church of the Carmelites and leave a bottle of Adrian Brouwer Dark Golden Ale for the old drunkard. A Belgium style strong ale brewed in Oudenaarde, Belgium... Adrian’s hometown. How appropriate.

Adriaen Brouwer has been scribed as "indulgent," "reckless," and "bohemian".

Peter Paul Rubens hired Brouwer, but then had to fire him for constantly showing up to work late and drunk or high.

He's the only artist we know of to have a beer and an annual beer festival named after him. According to globalbeer.com, "Adriaen Brouwer Dark Gold Ale is almost identical to the beer Brouwer used to love so much." Too much considering the circumstances of his early demise. He completed over 130 amazing works of art before dropping dead at age 32. Cheers, mate.

Here is what Wikipedia says about Adriaen Brouwer

Adriaen Brouwer (c. 1605 – January 1638) was a Flemish painter active in Flanders and the Dutch Republic in the first half of the 17th century. Brouwer was an important innovator of genre painting through his vivid depictions of peasants, soldiers and other "lower class" individuals engaged in drinking, smoking, card or dice playing, fighting, music making etc. in taverns or rural settings. Brouwer contributed to the development of the genre of tronies, i.e. head or facial studies, which investigate varieties of expression. In his final year he produced a few landscapes of a tragic intensity. Brouwer's work had an important influence on the next generation of Flemish and Dutch genre painters. Although Brouwer produced only a small body of work, Dutch masters Peter Paul Rubens and Rembrandt collected it.

Check out the full Wikipedia article about Adriaen Brouwer