It is believed that he received training from Nicolaus Knupfer, Adriaen van Ostade and Jan van Goyen. In 1648, he registered with the newly established Guild of Saint Luke in Leiden. Although Steen started his career as a landscape artist, he also painted Biblical and mythological subjects. He is best known for his lively genre paintings, however – the phrase ‘a Jan Steen household’ is nowadays a synonym for disorderly families. Alongside his work as an artist, Steen ran a brewery and opened a tavern at his home. He gained a reputation as a libertine, but this notion seems mainly based on the debauched characters in his paintings.
Getting started with the collection: