(Oudenaarde circa 1605–1638 Antwerp)

Angry farmer - allegory of anger.

Oil on panel.

23.3 × 19 cm.

Provenance:
- Collection of Friedrich Jakob Gsell, Vienna, 1863.
- Collection of Dr. Max Joseph Schüler, Graz.
- Wawra auctions, Vienna, Collection of Dr Max Joseph Schüler, Graz, 2.–3.2.1909, Lot 58.
- Capouillet, Brussels, 1910.
- Collection of Duschnitz (wax seal verso), date unclear, possibly before Goudstikker.
- Collection of Goudstikker, Amsterdam, 1919 (wax seal verso), affirmed until 1924.
- Collection of J. C. H. Heldring, Oosterbeek, 1938–1962.
- Sotheby's, London, 27.3.1963, Lot 30.
- Collection of A. S. Paris, 1965.
- Art trade, Alfred Brod, London/Düsseldorf, circa 1966–1970.
- Swiss private collection, circa 1966–2006.
- Swiss private collection since 2007.

Exhibited:
- Amsterdam 1919/20, untitled, Gesellschaft für Bildende Kunst Amsterdam, 14.12.1919–04.1.1920, no. 7.
- Rotterdam 1938, Meesterwerken uit vier eeuwen 1400–1800 : tentoonstelling van schilderijen en teekeningen uit particuliere verzamelingen in Nederland bijeengebracht gedurende de veertigjarige regeering van H.M. Koningin Wilhelmina, Museum Boymans Rotterdam, 25.6.1938–15.10.1938, no. 169.
- Arnhem 1953, Zeventiende-eeuwse meesters uit Gelders bezit, Gemeentemuseum Arnhem, 20.6.1953–31.8.1953, no. 8.
- Rotterdam 1955, Kunstschatten uit Nederlandse verzamelingen, Museum Boymans, 19.6.1955–25.9.1955, no. 147.
- Arnhem 1958, Collectie J.C.H. Heldring te Oosterbeek, Gemeentemuseum Arnhem, 6.4.1958–1.6.1958, no. 9.
- Utrecht 1960, Collectie J.C.H. Heldring te Oosterbeek, Centraal Museum Utrecht, 25.5.1960–24.7.1960, no. 9.
- Brussels 1965, De eeuw van Rubens, Koninklijke Musea voor Schone Kunsten van België Brüssel, 15.10.1965–12.12.1965, no. 30.

Literature:
- Cornelis Hofstede de Groot: Beschreibendes und kritisches Verzeichnis der Werke der hervorragendsten holländischen Maler des 17. Jahrhunderts​, Esslingen / Paris 1910, vol. III, p. 282–283, cat no. 212 (as Adriaen Brouwer).
- Catalogue de la collection Goudstikker, Amsterdam 1919, cat no. 7 (as Adriaen Brouwer).
- Wilhelm Bode: Adriaen Brouwer: sein Leben und seine Werke, Berlin 1924, p. 118, ill. 80 (as Adriaen Brouwer).
- Dirk Hannema: Catalogue raisonné of the pictures in the collection of J. C. H. Heldring, Rotterdam 1955, cat no. 8, ill. 16 (as Adriaen Brouwer).
- G. Knuttel: Adriaen Brouwer: The master and his work, Den Haag 1962, pp. 150–151, cat no. 102 (as Brouwer?).
- Jean Buyck: Aantekeningen bij een zogenaamd 'Zelfportret' van Adriaen Brouwer in het Mauritshuis, in: Nederlands Kunsthistorisch Jaarboek 15, 1964, pp. 221–228 (as Adriaen Brouwer (?)).
- Horst Gerson: Das Jahrhundert von Rubens, in: Kunstchronik 19, 1966, S. 58–64 (as copy after Brouwer).
- Karolien De Clippel: Brouwer, Portrait Painter: New Identifications and an Iconographical Novelty, in: Simiolus 30, 2003, pp. 204–210, ill. 10 (as copy after Brouwer).
- Karolien De Clippel: Joos van Craesbeeck (1605/06–ca. 1660). Een Brabants Genreschilder, Turnhout 2006, pp. 286–288, cat no. C3.3, ill. 122 (as copy after Brouwer).

This portrait of an angry peasant (Allegory of Anger) has an impressive provenance and was presented in a number of public exhibitions, particularly in the first half of the 20th century, as a work by Adriaen Brouwer. The composition from a series of depictions of the seven deadly sins by Adrian Brouwer, of which several qualitatively different versions are known from the artist's circle, including one by Joos van Craesbeeck (c. 1605–1660). Karolien De Clippel (see literature) describes our painting as the most convincing of the examples known so far and emphasises the physiognomic similarity with the man in Brouwer's "Der Bittere Trank" in the Städelmuseum in Frankfurt am Main (inv. no. 1076, see De Clippel 2006, fig. 145, p. 550).

Due to the highly qualitative execution, especially in the face of the figure, our painting could possibly be the lost original by Adriaen Brouwer.

Our thanks to Dr Katrien Lichtert of the Museum van Oudenaarde en de Vlaamse Ardennen in Oudenaarde and Ellis Dullaart of RKD, The Hague, for their help in cataloguing this painting.