Adriaen Brouwer (c. 1605 – 1638), 

was a Flemish painter active in Flanders and the Dutch Republic in the first half of the 17th century. Brouwer was an important innovator of genre painting through his vivid depictions of peasants, soldiers and other 'lower class' individuals engaged in drinking, smoking, card or dice playing, fighting, music making etc. in taverns or rural settings. Brouwer contributed to the development of the genre of tronies, i.e. head or facial studies, which investigate varieties of expression. In his final year he produced a few landscapes of a tragic intensity. Rubens owned 17 works by Brouwer at the time of his death. Rembrandt also had paintings by Brouwer in his collection. Brouwer painted a tavern scene called The smokers, which included a self-portrait together with portraits of Jan Cossiers, Jan Lievens, Joos van Craesbeeck and Jan Davidsz. de Heem. The displayed painting is a crop from The Smokers, ca. (1636).