The Flemish Baroque artist David Teniers the Younger (1610-1690) defined 17th-century genre painting. Teniers’ early genre work, inspired by Adriaen Brouwer, was set in dim, smoky taverns with uncouth peasants drinking, gambling, and performing all types of indecorous activities. Teniers, similar to Brouwer, originally highlighted the grim realities of peasant life. In a matter of years, Teniers transitioned from painting gross tavern interiors to depicting lively outdoor scenes. The gloomy rustic scenes transformed into bright idyllic village settings.

The Kermis at the Half Moon Inn (below) is an engaging painting devoid of Brouwer’s influence. Teniers opts for a vibrant colour scheme. Furthermore, landscape and nature gain in prominence, leading to somewhat smaller and more removed figures. This spacious scene includes village activities, an expansive landscape, and a vast skyscape that extends over half of the canvas. Equally evident is the group of distinguished visitors. Teniers had previously depicted elite figures, but Kermis… is the first instance I found of notable figures actually appearing in a rural setting. The refined figures cluster together and distance themselves from the village festivities: only the lady being assisted to her feet interacts with a villager. It is rather droll that even in the presence of elite visitors, Teniers still incorporates awkward, rustic scenes: a drunkard is sleeping off his drunkenness, two men are assisting another inebriated man, and an older villager is flirting with a young woman. The theme of the “unequal couple” was prevalent in Dutch and Flemish art.

What motivates wealthy figures to attend a rural festival? They are, perhaps, landowners observing the activities of their tenants. Or possibly they are intrigued by the ‘other world’ and wish to personally experience the sensation of country life. One might also consider that these well-to-do people have specifically commissioned a painting illustrating country life and, as patrons, wish to be included in the composition. Teniers, besides being a prolific and versatile artist, was also a brilliant entrepreneur. His genre paintings were tailor-made for the emerging art market. The bourgeoisie and nobility, Teniers’ clientele, could enjoy a respectable encounter with country life without being confronted with any unpleasantness.

The affluent visitors are elegant and dressed in lavish garments. They are the essence of decorum. The women and men are slender and unmistakably graceful. The upper-class figures are primarily positioned in the lower corner of the canvas at an ‘appropriate’ distance from the humble villagers. In Village Fair, a gentleman sports a splendid red cloak. A similar figure appears in Country Celebration. And what to think of the lovely lady with her back turned to the viewer? She features in several paintings, wearing a beautifully designed overdress enhanced with a lace collar. Teniers unfailingly distinguishes between the stance, attire, demeanour, and manners of rural folk and wealthy urban residents. He also differentiates between dog breeds: the elite are seen with greyhounds, while the villagers take pride in their mutts.

Teniers’ striking dancers play a prominent role. Their unpolished, comical movements steal the scene. Teniers’ jolly peasants laugh heartily at the viewer as they caper about in an improvised dance full of prances and hops. A ‘Teniers dancer’ is typically jovial. They are often portrayed enthusiastically raising their legs into the air and waving a red cap. The dance formations used by Teniers are predictable. The most common formations are dancing couples, line dances, circle dancers, and occasionally a maypole dance. From time to time, he also paints dancers skipping around a tree. And, as tradition has it, the musician, whether a bagpiper or a fiddler, accompanies the dancers standing on a platform beside a splendid Teniers tree.

Teniers was a prolific artist. His village scenes are a combination of landscapes, skyscapes, and still life, merged with fascinating characters and a unique colour sensation. The shimmering glow of the lady’s yellow dress in Country Celebration showcases the artist’s skill in capturing textures and subtle hues. In the gallery below, I have included three still life details taken from various genre pieces. The shine of the copper pail, the smooth texture of the jug, and the muted surface of the handcart in contrast to the white cloth on the ground all reveal Teniers’ remarkable talent. In addition, there is a close-up of an ‘unequal couple’ and a portrait of a young page.

_{David Teniers the Younger – detail of still-life}

• _{Left above – Peasants dancing Outside a Tavern – c. 1641 – Royal Collection, United Kingdom}
• _{Left below – The Kermis at the Half Moon Inn – 1641 – Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister, Dresden}
• _{Right – The Village Feast – 1646 – The Hermitage, St Petersburg}

It is frequently mentioned that the greater the number of figures in a painting, the higher the cost of the artwork. A Kermis on St George’s Day is bursting with activity, making one wonder who commissioned this work. Although we do not have that information, the painting was deemed deserving of royal acknowledgement and became part of King George IV’s collection in 1821.

A Kermis on St George’s Day is filled with familiar Teniers’ scenes: an elderly man hunched over a lengthy cane, a table filled with merry countryfolk, a woman escorting her drunken partner home, a lively dog, and villagers engaged in various antics. But the most obvious figure is the vivacious dancing woman whom Teniers has accentuated with a sweeping white apron that, along with her white collar, instantly captures our attention. Teniers uses the shade white in a compelling manner. The white hues featured in the clothing of the seated woman with a baby and the off-white tones illustrating the young elite child create a vivid contrast against the earthy hues used for the figures and the environment. All the homes are coated in a comparable tawny hue. The church, painted white, is the exception.

The artwork includes two dance scenes: a prominent dancing couple and a communal dance in front of the village tavern. The spirited social dance, a round dance, is accompanied by a bagpiper and a musician playing a double bass. In the right corner, an elegant party of town dwellers enters the scene. They, as we have come to expect, observe the festivities. Regardless, the leading dancing couple continue their exuberant revelling. The old man with the cane obviously enjoys their spontaneity, just as the small peasant lass does. She appears to imitate the dancers. The young rich girl does not react to the music or the dancing. She delicately lifts her skirt with her fingers and glances away from the festivities.

A Family Concert on a Terrace is a self-portrait of David Teniers and his family. I have selected this artwork to illustrate the prestigious social status held by the artist. Teniers is seated and playing the viola. His wife, Anna, is seated next to him, and Teniers’ son, David, is singing. The identity of the beautifully poised lady, with her back toward the viewer, is unknown. However, this enigmatic figure appears in several of the paintings mentioned above.

David Teniers the Younger was born into an artistic family, the Teniers Dynasty. His father, David Teniers the Elder, was a renowned master. David’s three brothers were also artists. Teniers the Younger orchestrated his career with the utmost care. His marriage to Anna Brueghel, daughter of Jan Brueghel the Elder, secured his position in the Brueghel dynasty. Pieter Paul Rubens, guardian of Anna Brueghel, became a friend and associate. Teniers was appointed court painter and curator for the collection of Archduke Leopold Wilhelm, the Governor General of the Habsburg Netherlands, in 1651. Whilst in service, he created and compiled Theatrum Pictorium, or ‘Theatre of Painting’, the first illustrated printed catalogue of a major art collection. Teniers, affluent and influential, operated within an elite setting: he attained the coveted rank of noble in 1663.