HENDRICK MAERTENSZ. SORGH | A TAVERN SCENE WITH PEASANTS SMOKING AND DRINKING

Hendrick Maertensz. Sorgh was born, worked and died in the port city of Rotterdam in the Southern Netherlands. He was chiefly a genre painter executing portraits, scenes of young lovers music-making, and predominantly tavern interiors such as this. According to Houbraken he trained under David Teniers the Younger, although his work is in fact closer to that of Adriaen Brouwer, and at the end of his career the influence of Jan Steen is apparent – here, the figure at the back with his raised hands and jovial expression is particularly reminiscent of the lampooning Steen.

This painting was in the collection of the great pre-war Berlin architect Adolf Wollenberg who left Berlin in 1933 (following the sale of much of his collection at Lepke in 1932, see Provenance), and went into exile in Paris, and later in London.