Dutch Baroque Era Painter, ca.1625-1679 Daily life was Jan Steen's main pictorial theme. Many of the genre scenes he portrayed are lively to the point of chaos and lustfulness, even so much that a Jan Steen household, meaning a messy scene, became a Dutch proverb (een huishouden van Jan Steen). Subtle hints in his paintings seem to suggest that Steen meant to warn the viewer rather than invite him to copy this behaviour. Many of Steen's paintings bear references to old Dutch proverbs or literature. He often used members of his family as models. Jan Steen painted also quite a few self-portraits, in which he showed no tendency of vanity. Steen did not shy from other themes: he painted historical, mythological and religious scenes, portraits, still lifes and natural scenes. His portraits of children are famous. He is also well known for his mastery of light and attention to detail, most notably in textiles. Steen was prolific, producing about 800 paintings, of which roughly 350 survive. Steen's work was valued much by contemporaries and as a result he was reasonably well paid for his work. He did not have any students, but his work proved a source of inspiration for many painters.  Related Paintings of Jan Steen :. | Dancing couple on a terrace | Children teaching a cat to dance | The Quackdoctor | A company celebrating the birthday of Prince William III, 14 November 1660 | The Picnic |
Related Artists:
master of the Holy Kindred
active in Cologne 1470/80-1515
Lorenzo Ghiberti
Italian Early Renaissance Sculptor, 1378-1455
Kate Greenaway,RWS,RI
1846-1901 English painter, illustrator and writer. The daughter of a Fleet Street wood-engraver, John Greenaway (1818-90), she trained at Islington School of Art, Heatherleys Academy and the Slade School of Fine Art, all in London. In 1868 she did her first commercial work, producing Christmas and Valentine cards for Marcus Ward, Belfast.