Category One :

This genre which originated in the 1620s in Amsterdam makes an appearance in practically every Old Master auction sale and of course, is particularly prevalent in Dutch and German sales. 

Enormously popular at the time, its main exponents were Pieter Codde, Jacob Duck and Willem Cornelisz Duyster but they inspired a whole camp of less talented followers. They seem to have developed the genre from earlier tavern and peasant scenes painted by Jan Massys and others in the sixteenth century.
 

Origin of the Species  A peasant 'beauty' being groped in a tavern. After Jan  Massys  oil on canvas, 72.4 x 98cm The original painted in 1557 is in the National Gallery of Scotland, Edinburgh (inv. no. B 2696)

The scene is usually set in a grotty tavern or some other dim Dutch interior such as a guard-room or bordello. Typically there are three essential characters: the young woman, the older woman or procuress and a male figure who is either offering money to the girl or being tricked into losing his purse when his attentions are diverted.
All characters are usually spectacularly unattractive and grotesque in the exaggeration of their expressions and gestures. Any element of social and moral comment is ignored in favour of exploiting the sexual titillation of the moment. It was hardly the concern of the artist to indicate through his artistic talent that prostitution was on the whole, a pretty vile business. Not when the collectors of such paintings were probably men who frequented such taverns for a bit of sport. A rare exception is the work of the female artist Judith Leyster who set out to portray the girl being propositioned as a genuine victim rather than a collaborator in 1631, many years before Victorian artists did the same.
Sometimes the procuress is omitted from the composition and the two protagonists are just left to get on with the deal themselves. The procuress is often included to emphasize the youth and charms of the younger woman and to refer to the passing of beauty with time. 

What amazes us further, is that there are still gents around who collect this stuff with a passion. A good Codde or Duck can sell at auction for $US60,000.
 
 

About as good as it gets. This oil on panel (35.5 x 43cm)  by Pieter Codde (Amsterdam 1599-1678) is in the upper class of the inn/tavern genre. A large frumpy peasant woman pleads with a portly soldier whilst a fellow soldier and maidservant are near the fire in the background. Apparently the fact that her slipper is off denotes that her foot is bare and thus she has abandoned herself to the man.

The coyness of the cataloguers at Sotheby's and Christie's in this genre is risible. This is a typical catalogue entry "Interior of an inn with an elderly kitchen maid observing an amorous couple, cows, chickens and a dog with guardsmen eating, drinking and making merry in the background." 

Characteristic of these paintings are the warm tonalities and brownish murky colours that give the impression all this sordid activity is going on in a very unhealthy atmosphere clogged with pipe smoke and acrid fumes from the kitchen.

The above article reflects the ideas of our reader and not necessarily represents ARTnewspaper.com own opinion on the subject.