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Article: SMALL WONDERS; At the National Gallery, Some Tiny Dutch Treats
- Article from:
- The Washington Post
- Article date:
- September 23, 1995
- Author:
CopyrightThis material is published under license from the Washington Post. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Washington Post. (Hide copyright information)
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Adriaen Brouwer's "Youth Making a Face" is 360 years old but still
feels remarkably current. The moment you encounter its rheumy eye,
its boozy breath, you know what it's about. It's a picture with an
attitude. In your face.
It's not a New York painting; it was painted when New York was
still Nieuw Amsterdam. But it sort of feels like one, so modern is
its message, and the audience it implies. Its stoned-out subject
comes right at you, mocking. And menacing. He's got a sharp knife in
his hat. He's as insulting as Don Rickles, as rude as Howard Stern.
He's sort of funny, too.
This stuff sells. It sells in mostly middle-class secular
societies -- Antwerp's, say, in 1635. It sells because of ...