(Adrian Van), an eminent Dutch painter born at Lubeck in 1610. He was a disciple of Francis Hals, in whose school Brouwer was contemporary with him, where they contracted an intimate friendship. The subjects of his pencil were always of a low kind, he having nearly the same ideas as Teniers; diverting himself with clowns and drunkards in stables, alehouses, and kitchens. His pictures are so transparent and highly finished, that they have the polish and lustre of enamel: they have frequently a force superior to Teniers'; yet it were to be wished that he had not designed his figures so short. He is perhaps one of the Dutch masters who best understood the chiaro-oscuro; and he was often employed to paint figures for the best landscape-painters of his countrymen. He died in 1685. His works, especially those of his best time and manner, are very scarce; so that when they are to be purchased, no price is thought too much for them. His prints etched by himself, large and small, consist of 54 pieces.