David Teniers the Younger

Sale, London, Christie's London, 5 July 2011, lot 49,

where acquired by the present owner

The rare figure drawings of David Teniers the Younger stand out among other Flemish drawings of the period, both technically and in their great verve and accomplishment. Teniers was one of very few artists of his time to favour the use of graphite or black lead, rather than black chalk or pen and ink, and this distinctive medium results in a flickering, animated play of light and a great sense of movement, qualities that are readily apparent in this lively sheet. 

Interior scenes like this, with peasants drinking, smoking and carousing, form one of the cornerstones of Teniers's art throughout the course of his career. From early paintings such as the Smokers (circa 1635/36), in Stockholm, or the Smokers, 'Le Bonnet Vert' (1636/37), in Madrid, through to paintings of the late 1660s, such as the Man with a Tankard and Young Woman in an Inn, in Karlsruhe, we see compositions and figure groups very similar to those in the present, characteristic drawing, making the dating of studies such as this extremely speculative.¹

^1.Stockholm, Nationalmuseum, inv. NM 653; Madrid, Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, inv. 387 (1970.35); Karlsruhe, Staatliche Kunsthalle, inv. 1904; see M. Klinge and D. Lüdke, David Teniers der Jüngere 1610-1690, Alltag und Vergnügen in Flandern, exh. cat., Karlsruhe, Staatliche Kunsthalle, 2005-6, cats. 11, 12 and 99