The Smokers

A group of rough peasants pass a pipe around a smoky tavern, their faces lit from below by the fire, wreathed in curling tobacco smoke. Adriaen Brouwer was the master of the low-life tavern scene, admired even by Rubens, and this small panel from about 1636 is a marvel of observation and painterly freedom. The expressions are caught mid-laugh, the smoke painted in loose, shimmering strokes — Rembrandt and Rubens both owned works by this brilliant Fleming.