The Village Fair

Cornelis Dusart’s image of a village fair features a rowdy group of rural laborers dancing and celebrating in the street. His portrayal of these country folk follows upper-class stereotypes of rural life, depicting them as unrefined and unruly. Even the name of the inn, visible on the rippling banner in the upper left as the “Gulde Schenk Kan” (The Golden Tankard) insinuates the villagers’ drunken state.

The print exudes a lively energy that matches the frenzy of the characters within it. Except for the trio of slumped, dancing figures in the lit foreground, there is no clear focus of the busy scene. Instead, the viewer’s eyes jump from corner to corner, noticing new details in each vignette. On the left, the villagers crowd around the fiddler, leaning out of the windows for a better view of the festivities. Behind them, two elegantly dressed ladies pass a parasol from atop their mounts. Chickens peck in the darkened foreground while pigs, geese, and dogs root around in the dirt, children rolling marbles in their midst. They appear uninterested in the acrobats who tumble on a precarious stage behind them. 

Although Dusart largely created these precise details through the medium of etching, there is also evidence of engraving in the swelling lines that form the central man’s hat. In his choice of rural subject matter, Dusart followed the artistic practice of his mentor, Adriaen van Ostade (1610 – 1685). Ostade’s etching style, however, focused more on texture, while Dusart prioritized finer lines and increased anecdotal detail.

The Middlebury College collection includes two impressions of this print, representing the first two states out of three. Two strong dark spots in the clouds and dashed markings on the inn’s flag differentiate the later states from the first. In the first state, three birds fly above, one of which becomes much fainter by the second state. Middlebury’s impression of the first state features a collector’s mark from the British Museum, donated anonymously. The second state includes a six-pointed star in the lower right frame which remains unidentified, but is associated with Nicholas Lanier (1588–1666), a French expert in drawings.

Written by Elias Buurma, edited by Simone Edgar Holmes

Bibliography

Artsy. “Cornelis Dusart The Village Fair (1685).” R.S. Johnson Fine Art. Accessed June 29,  2020. https://www.artsy.net/artwork/cornelis-dusart-the-large-village-fair.

Hollstein, F.W.H. Hollstein’s Dutch and Flemish Etchings, Engravings, and Woodcuts, ca. 1450-1700 Vol. VI. Amsterdam: Hertzberger, 1952.

Lugt, Frits. “Lanier, Nicholas: L.2885.” Frits Lugt, Les Marques de Collections de Dessins & d’Estampes. Accessed June 29, 2020. http://www.marquesdecollections.fr/detail.cfm/marque/10186. 

Lugt, Frits. “Marque non identifiée: L.4700.” Frits Lugt, Les Marques de Collections de Dessins & d’Estampes. Accessed June 29, 2020. http://www.marquesdecollections.fr/detail.cfm/marque/12215. 

Lugt, Frits. “The British Museum, Department of Prints and Drawings: L.305.” Frits Lugt, Les Marques de Collections de Dessins & d’Estampes. Accessed June 29, 2020. http://www.marquesdecollections.fr/detail.cfm/marque/5782/total/1.

Museum of Fine Arts Boston. “The Large Village Fair.” Accessed June 29, 2020, https://collections.mfa.org/objects/487871.

Princeton University Art Museum. “Village Fair, 1685.” Accessed June 29, 2020, https://artmuseum.princeton.edu/collections/objects/47214.