In 1868 Frans Hals (1582-1666) was “rediscovered” by the influential French journalist-art critic Théophile Thoré. Art critics had disregarded Hals since he died in 1666. The Dutchman's innovative painting style with his loose touch no longer fitted in with the prevailing academic style; au contraire, his loose painting style was associated with a licentious lifestyle (whether he ever lived a debauched life or not). So his paintings were worth little in the art market and Frans Hals’ name did not feature in most works about the Golden Age.
Frans Hals, The Fisher Boy, 1632
Antwerp Museum.
Regentesses of the Old Men’s Almshouse,
Thoré (who was also helped rediscover Vermeer) discussed Hals’ work in various publications, but articles for the influential art magazine Gazette des Beaux-Arts had the most impact. In 1868 Thoré specifically cited Hals’ virtuosity and daring brushwork as an example to contemporary artists. Thoré was describing Hals’ Regentesses thus: "The life-size figures modelled in broad, flamboyant strokes, protruded out of the frame in relief. It was beautiful and almost frightening". His articles sparked renewed interest in Hals’ paintings and a reassessment of his style among artists. The price of his works rocketed up, and every respected museum and collector was eager to acquire a Hals.
After 1868, Hals was no longer seen as a drunkard. C19th painters like Courbet, Manet, Monet, Cassatt, Singer Sargent, Liebermann &Van Gogh admired him as an icon; he was worshipped by late C19th artists like McNeill Whistler, William Merritt Chase, Henri Fantin-Latour. With c80 loans from international museums, the Haarlem Show reflected the huge impact that Hals had on these modern painters. His paintings were set against responses to his work by artists painting in the late C19th, that other heyday of painting, revealing just how progressive and influential Hals was. Many painters, French and then German, English and American, travelled to Haarlem, which became a veritable place of pilgrimage for artists, where they could admire Hals’ work in the recently opened Gemeentemuseum (1862).
Two Officers, 1876
The 150th anniversary of this rediscovery was an opportunity to stage the Frans Hals and the Moderns exhibition. The modernists were impressed by his loose touch, which they saw as early impressionistic. The largest collection of Hals’ work, open to the public in the attic in Haarlem’s Town Hall, was popular.
Regentesses of the Old Men’s Almshouse were formally arranged around a table, but Hals' Regentesses looked aged and stiff, had florid complexions that seemed eerily lifelike and were full of watchful gazes. The painting’s lack of finish was later attributed to the artist’s infirmities – it was completed just before he died!
van Gogh, Postman Joseph Roulin,1888
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Elements of the painting reappeared many times in the work of Hals’ imitators. Sargent’s study of the two rightmost figures hung in his studio until his death. When Whistler arrived, he asked for a set of small stairs so he might touch their faces. A copy by Manet has recently been recovered. The Frans Hals Museum used its space to convey Hals’ influence on late C19th artists, not by making constant comparisons on a grand scale, but through a close analysis for copying purposes. Each painter re-imagined Hals in a way that reflected his own ambitions.
Every artist recognised Hals’ bravura brushwork – a bold touch that left a light, ephemeral impression. His unblended application of colour seemed crude at close quarters, but from a distance it dissolved. The Impressionists wanted to emulate the effect and, without relying on mechanical reproduction, copying was a way to survey a work’s surface and stroke.
Van Gogh, who revered his Dutch colleague Hals, admired how he dashed off a thing and did not retouch it so very much. That he was wrong did not detract from the idea that the best pictures seen from nearby were but patches of colour side by side, and only made an effect at a certain distance. This suggested the image of Van Gogh darting back & forth before the works, mesmerised by how they zoomed in & out of focus! The tangle of lines comprising the sitter’s limp, drooping hands in Postman Joseph Roulin (1888) explicitly recalled the the Regentesses' gaunt extremes.
Constance Wynne-Roberts, 1895
Boy with a Pitcher, c1865
Antwerp Museum.
by 1664
Thoré (who was also helped rediscover Vermeer) discussed Hals’ work in various publications, but articles for the influential art magazine Gazette des Beaux-Arts had the most impact. In 1868 Thoré specifically cited Hals’ virtuosity and daring brushwork as an example to contemporary artists. Thoré was describing Hals’ Regentesses thus: "The life-size figures modelled in broad, flamboyant strokes, protruded out of the frame in relief. It was beautiful and almost frightening". His articles sparked renewed interest in Hals’ paintings and a reassessment of his style among artists. The price of his works rocketed up, and every respected museum and collector was eager to acquire a Hals.
After 1868, Hals was no longer seen as a drunkard. C19th painters like Courbet, Manet, Monet, Cassatt, Singer Sargent, Liebermann &Van Gogh admired him as an icon; he was worshipped by late C19th artists like McNeill Whistler, William Merritt Chase, Henri Fantin-Latour. With c80 loans from international museums, the Haarlem Show reflected the huge impact that Hals had on these modern painters. His paintings were set against responses to his work by artists painting in the late C19th, that other heyday of painting, revealing just how progressive and influential Hals was. Many painters, French and then German, English and American, travelled to Haarlem, which became a veritable place of pilgrimage for artists, where they could admire Hals’ work in the recently opened Gemeentemuseum (1862).
by Max Liebermann
Jan Six Gallery, Amsterdam
The 150th anniversary of this rediscovery was an opportunity to stage the Frans Hals and the Moderns exhibition. The modernists were impressed by his loose touch, which they saw as early impressionistic. The largest collection of Hals’ work, open to the public in the attic in Haarlem’s Town Hall, was popular.
Regentesses of the Old Men’s Almshouse were formally arranged around a table, but Hals' Regentesses looked aged and stiff, had florid complexions that seemed eerily lifelike and were full of watchful gazes. The painting’s lack of finish was later attributed to the artist’s infirmities – it was completed just before he died!
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Elements of the painting reappeared many times in the work of Hals’ imitators. Sargent’s study of the two rightmost figures hung in his studio until his death. When Whistler arrived, he asked for a set of small stairs so he might touch their faces. A copy by Manet has recently been recovered. The Frans Hals Museum used its space to convey Hals’ influence on late C19th artists, not by making constant comparisons on a grand scale, but through a close analysis for copying purposes. Each painter re-imagined Hals in a way that reflected his own ambitions.
Every artist recognised Hals’ bravura brushwork – a bold touch that left a light, ephemeral impression. His unblended application of colour seemed crude at close quarters, but from a distance it dissolved. The Impressionists wanted to emulate the effect and, without relying on mechanical reproduction, copying was a way to survey a work’s surface and stroke.
Van Gogh, who revered his Dutch colleague Hals, admired how he dashed off a thing and did not retouch it so very much. That he was wrong did not detract from the idea that the best pictures seen from nearby were but patches of colour side by side, and only made an effect at a certain distance. This suggested the image of Van Gogh darting back & forth before the works, mesmerised by how they zoomed in & out of focus! The tangle of lines comprising the sitter’s limp, drooping hands in Postman Joseph Roulin (1888) explicitly recalled the the Regentesses' gaunt extremes.
by John Singer Sargent,
National Galleries Scotland
When Sargent visited the Town Hall in Haarlem in 1880, his copies of the original works became inexact, darker and more loosely rendered. Rather than closely duplicate Hals, he had hoped to capture the painter’s "essence". Sargent’s success as a portraitist was in part due to his inventive compositions; Sargent’s sense of character in Constance Wynne-Roberts (1895) conveyed echoes of Hals, whose subjects were often sympathetic.
For C19th realists, Hals’ interest in depicting typical Haarlem scenes merged into their wider perspectives on modern life. For the French painters, Hals’ candid depictions were emancipating; he was the Old Master authorising a modern’s desire to record the everyday. A less well-known American painter, Robert Henri, spent time in an artist’s residency in Haarlem, living out a Halsian existence and painting local citizens. Like Hals’ children, see Henri’s The Laughing Boy 1910, an image of innocent elation. The publication accompanying the exhibition tells of the urchin’s life in detail, since the theme of frivolous youth was as topical in the C17th Dutch Republic as it is in Australia now.
When Sargent visited the Town Hall in Haarlem in 1880, his copies of the original works became inexact, darker and more loosely rendered. Rather than closely duplicate Hals, he had hoped to capture the painter’s "essence". Sargent’s success as a portraitist was in part due to his inventive compositions; Sargent’s sense of character in Constance Wynne-Roberts (1895) conveyed echoes of Hals, whose subjects were often sympathetic.
For C19th realists, Hals’ interest in depicting typical Haarlem scenes merged into their wider perspectives on modern life. For the French painters, Hals’ candid depictions were emancipating; he was the Old Master authorising a modern’s desire to record the everyday. A less well-known American painter, Robert Henri, spent time in an artist’s residency in Haarlem, living out a Halsian existence and painting local citizens. Like Hals’ children, see Henri’s The Laughing Boy 1910, an image of innocent elation. The publication accompanying the exhibition tells of the urchin’s life in detail, since the theme of frivolous youth was as topical in the C17th Dutch Republic as it is in Australia now.
by Edouard Manet
Art Institute Chicago
For the first time, 80 paintings by both Frans Hals and the C19th artists Hals inspired were shown together. All of the modernists in this exhibition seemed to have recognised the spontaneity in Hals’ work, creating a closeness with the long-dead Haarlem painter.
For the first time, 80 paintings by both Frans Hals and the C19th artists Hals inspired were shown together. All of the modernists in this exhibition seemed to have recognised the spontaneity in Hals’ work, creating a closeness with the long-dead Haarlem painter.
18 comments:
Helen I'd love you to add some early Hals portraits, eg Singing Boy with Flute c1623, Boy with a Lute c1625, Boy with a Glass and a Lute c1626, Merry Drinker c1629. Lots of later artists copied those very loose paint strokes.
Well done for talking about Hals without mentioning The Laughing Cavalier! I had no notion of the large-scale influence he had over later artists but it seems to have been very positive and widespread.
Incidentally, The Laughing Cavalier was the painting that first got me interested in art, while a teenager. I loved that cheeky expression; it's a 'knowing smirk' really rather than a laugh. Also, the man is not a Cavalier!
Student
you are quite right... the earlier portraits used very loose strokes. I have your Hals examples, many thanks, but I will look for modernists who were influenced by his early portraits straight away.
bazza
hi over there :) are you and yours all healthy and well? I am healthy, but sluggish from too much lockdown.
I didn't refer to any of Hals' works that helped establish his reputation if they were NOT shown at the Haarlem Exhibition eg the Louvre’s Gypsy Girl or the Wallace Collection’s Laughing Cavalier.
When I went back to Uni in 1990 to do Art History, I asked my father whether he enjoyed Art History back in 1939. He said he remembered only one painting in great detail, The Fighting Temeraire by JMW Turner. It is amazing what we remember after 50 years !
I would love to see the Halses but the chances of getting to Haarlem are remote. Will these paintings ever get to Melbourne, Canberra or Sydney?
Joe
the NGV has been wonderful with the Golden Age of Dutch Art eg1 a great Rembrandt exhibition in 1997 eg2 17th century Dutch masterpieces from the Rijksmuseum with 100+ beauties by Vermeer, Rembrandt, Hals, de Hooch and Steen in 2004. Rembrandt and the Dutch Golden Age
Masterpieces From the Rijksmuseum was hugely popular in Art Gallery of NSW in 2017-8.
Clearly the audiences here are very keen to see these paintings again, but I have seen nothing to suggest the Hals exhibition is coming :(
"Better late than never", as they say.
The rediscovery of Frank Hals' influence upon the modernist Dutch painters is the theme of the Haarlem exhibition.
His painting style with a loose touch got successfully imitated by other famous painters.
(I love Hals' painting the 'Fisher boy' great work!).
We are all well thanks and hope you and yours are too. I've been very busy recently and ignored FB too much!
I have a large print of the fighting Temeraire in my lounge. It's a picture that I love and know a lot about!
Boa tarde minha querida amiga. Parabéns pelo seu excelente trabalho. Os quadros são maravilhosos e espetaculares.
DUTA
I was very familiar with the paintings of Manet, Monet and the other late 19th century Frenchmen, but I had no idea that they had re-acquainted themselves with Hals and his mid 17th century oeuvre. The Haarlem exhibition did a great job :)
bazza
If I could buy (or steal) any great painting to own, I would choose Modigliani - either "Jeanne Hébuterne" or "Portrait of the Married Couple Lipchitz".
Luiz
Thank you...I agree. I never liked most van Goghs when I was young, but Postman Joseph Roulin now appeals to me greatly.
I Loved this post . Thank you . ( I love all of them really :)) It seems to me that he was painting more impressionistically than his contemporaries with a real feeling of empathy for this situations/ people he depicted. No wonder the 19th century painters loved him and were influenced by him . Those grim ladies look rather forbidding and yet also a bit vulnerable . It sort of sneaks' out of one or two of them
mem
I suspected the reason Hals was largely ignored in his own lifetime (1582-1666) was because his early work was seen as loose, non-academic, even sloppy. I think had people understood impressionist thinking back then, as you rightly called it, contemporaries would have understood and appreciated Hals better. Even the "real" French Impressionists were cruelly criticised in the 1860s and 1870s, so they would have been delighted to analyse Hals closely.
Hi Hels - I know so little about art - but I do think I'd enjoy Art History ... my thoughts/brain are too eclectic - still I do enjoy learning more and will continue to do so. Frans Hals worked quickly and thus presumably has left many art works for us to learn from. Thanks for this ... Hilary
Hilary
me too. I couldn't paint a straight line if my life depended on it.
But art history, of both the fine arts and the decorative arts, gives us a much more accessible, honest, uncensored view of history than, say, parliamentary legislation or church documents. The Golden Age of Dutch Art, including Hals, was/is an endless supply of information about this society.
Anon
no advertising please. Are you a Hals fan?
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