Franz Hals: A Master of Expression

Self-Portrait

1648-1650, Oil on Panel, (33 cm x 28 cm) Indianapolis Museum of Art

https://cs.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soubor:Hals_-_Self-Portrait_copy.jpg

Franz Hals (1582-1666) was a artist of the baroque period who was well known for his role in the transition from religious paintings into personal portraiture’s, as well as his commissioned works. Franz Hals learned from Mannerist artist Karel van Mander, however the mannerism influence is not seen in Hals’ works. Hals worked as a painting restorer during the 1600’s, however a lack of work from religious themes later on resulted in Franz Hals switching to the portraiture market. Being situated in Haarlem now Hals didn’t travel to meet his clients, but instead he insisted that clients come to him instead. Being a very popular portraiture painter of his time, he eventually went on to live long enough that his work went out of style, causing him to fall into debt.

Franz Hal’s group portraiture’s consisted of many easily distinguishable figures, each with a different expression and pose that highlights a personality. Franz Hal’s was a master in that, he would manage to express what a person was feeling and their nature in the moment of painting them, resulting in paintings that depicted great expression. By using a delicate sense of colour along with confident and loose brush strokes, he would manage to produce life-like paintings with great expression in them.

Franz Hals is a extraordinary painter that helped promote the portraiture market after the decline of religious themes in painting by using his delicate and loose brushwork to capture the expressions and feelings of a person at the time. His use of the brush and what some people call the “rough style”, will influence generations like the Impressionists.

Franz Hals Works

The Gypsy Girl

1628, Oil on Canvas, (57.8 cm x 52.1 cm), Louvre Museum, Paris

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Frans_Hals_-_Gypsy_Girl_-_WGA11100.jpg

Laughing Cavalier

1624, Oil on Canvas, (83 cm x 67.3 cm), Wallace Collection, London.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laughing_Cavalier

Fisher Boy with Basket

1630, Oil on Canvas, (72 cm x 58 cm), National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fisher_Boy_with_Basket

Meagre Company

1637, Oil on Canvas, (2.09 m x 4.29 m), Rjiksmuseum

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meagre_Company#/media/File:Frans_Hals,_De_magere_compagnie.jpg

Citation: 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frans_Hals

http://www.frans-hals.org/biography.html

https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/hals/hd_hals.htm

https://www.rijksmuseum.nl/en/rijksstudio/artists/frans-hals