Cornelis Dusart (Haarlem 1660-1704)

Dusart was a pupil of Adriaen van Ostade (1610-1685) and the influence of his master is noticeable in his paintings, drawings and prints. He probably inherited Ostade's entire studio and used it intensively, completing Ostade's paintings and adding wash and watercolour to some of his drawings. Both Dusart and Ostade executed a large number of figure drawings. While Ostade's figure drawings were preliminary studies, Dusart's can be seen as works of art in their own right. These highly finished and often coloured drawings such as the present one, were sold separately to collectors according to a notebook in Dusart's possession (see P. Schatborn, Dutch Figure Drawings from the seventeenth century, exhib. cat., Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum, and Washington, National Gallery of Art, 1981-82, pp. 110-12).

We are grateful to Dr. Susan Anderson who has confirmed the attribution to Dusart on the basis of a digital photograph.