Youth Making a Face
c. 1632/1635 National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C.
About this artwork
A small-scale oil-on-panel genre painting depicting a young man in a dark cap distorting his face with his fingers. It exemplifies the artist's focus on character studies and expressive, often humorous, subjects.
Did you know?
Adriaen Brouwer was famous in the 17th century for his expressive 'tronies'—character studies that prioritized raw emotion and facial distortion over idealized beauty. His work heavily influenced contemporary artists like Rembrandt, who collected several of Brouwer's paintings. This specific work is a quintessential example of the artist's ability to capture a fleeting, crude, and highly human moment with remarkable technical economy.
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Youth Making a Face
Adriaen Brouwer, c. 1632/1635
