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Portrait of a Man Frans Hals

Artist

Frans Hals Antwerp, 1582/1583 – Haarlem, 1666

Culture Netherlandish
Date 1634
Object type painting
Medium, technique oil on canvas
Dimensions

82.5 x 70 cm
with frame: 109 × 95.5 × 10 cm

Inventory number 4158
Collection Old Master Paintings
On view Museum of Fine Arts, First Floor, European Art 1600–1700 and British Painting 1600–1800, Gallery XI

This painting dates from the mature period of the first master of Dutch portraiture, when his popularity reached its zenith and his style was fully developed. He depicts his model with captivating directness, but also fulfilling the requirements of representation; without idealisation, yet painted with virtuoso technique. He models with energetic, deft brushstrokes, enlivening the freshness of the skin, the smoothness of the black silk and the pastosity of the white lace. The picture was originally larger, showing the model knee-length, as it is proved by its companion piece, the portrait of his wife (Museum of Art, Baltimore) and its old drawing copy (Städelsches Kunstinstitut, Frankfurt).

References

Pigler, Andor, Katalog der Galerie Alter Meister, 1-2. Museum der Bildenden Künste, Szépművészeti Múzeum, Budapest. 2, Akadémiai Kiadó, Budapest, 1967, p. 300-301.

This record is subject to revision due to ongoing research.

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