Joos van Craesbeeck (born 1605) was a Flemish painter who painted the raw and gritty details of everyday life in 1600's Netherlands. What sets him apart isn't just his talent for capturing tavern scenes and peasant mischief, but the way he managed to blur the lines between art and reality. In one of his best known works called "The Smoker", he is believed to have painted himself mid exhale in a moment of indulgence. It's not your typical polished self-portrait, it's unfiltered and honest almost like he's inviting us to judge him.

Craesbeeck didn't come from a traditional art background, he started out as a baker. An acquaintance, Adriaen Brouwer, another painter fascinated by life's messier moments pulled him into the world of painting. His works are filled with drunken revelry, brawls, and moments of moral collapse.

What makes his art special is that it forces you to pause and think: how much of this was Craesbeeck reflecting on the world around him and how much of it was a mirror held up to his own life? His ability to mix humor, harsh realism, and moral ambiguity leaves you wondering if he was capturing the madness of society, or simply confessing to his own.