The Lasting Memories

 

Jan Steen was an unpredictable and inconsistent artist, changing his style constantly, which was not always a great thing. One could easily argue that Steen was a great painter, but at the same time, dependent upon the selection of work you draw from, that he was just a careless hack. Another thing that has affected Steen’s fame is that many people focus on his personal life too much and count him off as a drunk, and as a result ignore the beauty of his detailed touch. These feelings are reflected in the critiques that Steen has received over the years. Recently, though, many of the harsh criticism are overlooked, and are not given too much credit.

 

Steen was not very popular in his time, which was most likely because he just never got the attention he needed, and deserved, to become a popular artist. Bob Haak, in a book about Dutch artist in the seventeenth century, relates this phenomenon to Steen being like a prophet with no country to call home (425). By the beginning of the twentieth century more people started falling into this line of thought and so Steen has come to be seen as one of the most characteristic Dutch painter, second to Rembrandt in the pantheon of Dutch artist. The author from the article “Jan Steen” in The Illustrated Magazine of Art summarizes the current views of many today on the impact in this art the best: “he was skillful in portraying diversities of character, and in reproving the follies of mankind, -not with bitterness, but gaily, as it becomes a man who laughs both at the great and petty miseries of life.”(161). The lasting legacy of Jan Steen will not ever be that he was the absolute best painter and most skilled per se. Instead, he will always be remembered for his gift as a storyteller, someone who will constantly be testing you to solve the double meanings of simple figure or items throughout the scene, all with a great sense of humor that makes his works even more appreciable.