Frans Hals(Antwerp 1582/83 – 1666 Haarlem)

How to citeBakker, Piet. “Frans Hals” (2017). In The Leiden Collection Catalogue, 3rd ed. Edited by Arthur K. Wheelock Jr. andLara Yeager-Crasselt. New York, 2020–23. https://www.theleidencollection.com/archive/ (archived December 2023).
A PDF of every version of this biography is available in this Online Catalogue's Archive, and the Archive is managed bya permanent URL. New versions are added only when a substantive change to the narrative occurs.

Frans Hals was born in Antwerp in 1582 or 1583 to Franchois Hals (1542–1610), a cloth dresser from Mechelen, and hissecond wife, Adriana van Geestenryck (1552–1616), the widow of a tailor.[1] The family moved to Haarlem shortly after
the Fall of Antwerp in 1585. Hals’s brother, Dirck (1591–1656), was born there in 1591 and also became a painter. We
have no information regarding Frans’s artistic training. According to the anonymous biographer of Karel van Mander(1548–1606), Hals trained under him, but Van Mander himself makes no mention of this in his Schilderboeck of 1604.[2]Hals could have spent some time in Van Mander’s workshop after the publication of this book, though this seems fairly
unlikely considering that from 1603 until his death in 1606 Van Mander was not living in Haarlem. The first official
record of Hals’s presence in Haarlem dates from 1610, when he joined the Guild of Saint Luke.
Except for a brief sojourn in Antwerp in 1616, where he became acquainted with the work of Peter Paul Rubens(1577–1640), Hals spent his entire life in Haarlem. He married Anneke Harmensdr Abeels (1590–1615), the daughter of ableacher, around 1610.[3] This union should have gained Hals entry into the ruling elite, for Anneke’s godfather andguardian, the wealthy brewer Job Claesz Gijbland (1572–1638), sat on the town council. For unknown reasons, however,Gijbland showed little interest in Hals and his family. When Gijbland had himself portrayed in 1611, he chose theestablished painter Frans de Grebber (1573–1649) over the still inexperienced Hals.[4] That Gijbland also subsequently
never supported the couple is clear from the fact that he did nothing to prevent Anneke from being buried in a pauper’sgrave when she died in May 1615.[5]In 1617 Hals took a second wife, Lysbeth Reyniersdr (1593–after 1675), the daughter of a glassmaker; they would have
eleven children. By this time, his career had taken off and he had been granted a prestigious commission in 1616 to paint abanquet of the officers of the Saint George Civic Guard.[6] Without diminishing his success, it should be noted that Hals
faced little competition in these early years. The only other portraitist of significance in Haarlem, besides Hals and Fransde Grebber, was Cornelis Engelsz (1574/75–1650).
The tense political situation at that time impelled Prince Maurits (1567–1625) to dissolve the Haarlem town council in© 2024 The Leiden Collection

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1618 and then reinstate it with his own supporters. Hals rapidly emerged as the leading portraitist of these new leaders andtheir families. His greatest patron was the affluent and highly influential Olycan family of brewers, at least fourteen
members of which he portrayed. Various members of the Coymans family also sat for him. The most famous of theseworks may be the bewitching portrait of Isabella Coymans, the daughter of the wealthy merchant Josephus Coymans.[7]The lifelikeness of Hals’s portraits was as highly praised and appreciated in his own time as it is today. In his 1628 citychronicle, Samuel Ampzing (1590–1632) exclaimed, “How dashingly Frans paints people from life!”[8] Twenty years later,in 1648, Theodorus Schrevelius (1572–1649), writing about Hals’s portraits, would likewise extol how they “are colored insuch a way that they seem to live and breathe.”[9]Hals’s clients came not only from social and political elite, but also from other echelons of society. He portrayed variousclergymen, including the Dutch Lutheran minister Conradus Viëtor in 1644 (Portrait of Conradus Viëtor in The LeidenCollection),[10] and—in small format—the city chroniclers Ampzing (Portrait of Samuel Ampzing in the Leiden Collection)and Schrevelius.[11] The scholar Petrus Scriverius (1576–1660) and the celebrated French philosopher René Descartes(1596–1650) also sat for him, the latter around 1649 shortly before his departure to Sweden.[12] In the meantime, Hals wasfacing fierce competition not only from his contemporary Pieter Soutman (ca. 1580–1657), who returned from anextended sojourn abroad in 1628, but also from a new generation of portraitists, including the Catholic painters Pieter deGrebber (ca. 1600–52/53), Johannes Verspronck (1606/09–62), and later Jan de Bray (ca. 1627–97). Except forVerspronck, however, they were not specialists, and judging from the portraits that have come down to us, their clientele
seems to have consisted primarily of fellow Catholics. Hals managed to retain his leading position, and his distinctive loose
and unfinished manner of painting remained popular among Haarlem burghers until his death.[13]In addition to having a successful career, Hals was an influential teacher. According to Arnold Houbraken, Adriaen
Brouwer (1605/06–38) and Adriaen van Ostade (1610–85) apprenticed with Hals. Although undocumented, it is believedthat Jan Miense Molenaer (ca. 1610–68) and Judith Leyster (1609–60) also learned the craft of painting from him; in any
case, Hals and Leyster were well acquainted.[14] Cornelis de Bie furthermore credits Hals as being the teacher of Philips
Wouwerman (1619–68). Less certain is whether Vincent Laurensz van der Vinne (1628–1702) studied with Hals, whopainted his portrait in the late 1650s.[15] Hals’s five sons—Harmen (1611–69), from his first marriage, and the four sonsfrom his second marriage—all became painters and are assumed to have trained with their father.[16] Pieter van Roestraten(1630–1700), who married Hals’s daughter Adriaentje (b. 1623) in 1654, studied under Hals as well.
In addition to working for private individuals, Hals received commissions from prestigious institutions. Aside from theabove-mentioned civic guard painting, between 1616 and 1639 he painted another four group portraits for both the SaintGeorge Hall and the Calivermen’s Hall in Haarlem. He was a member of the Saint George Militia Company and included
his own likeness in his 1639 portrait of the company’s officers and subalterns.[17] His civic guard paintings gained fameoutside of Haarlem as well, and in 1633 the Amsterdam Crossbowmen’s Hall commissioned Hals to portray the companyof Captain Reynier Reael and Lieutenant Cornelis Blaeuw. This picture, presently better known as Meager Company,
however, is only partly by Hals. After a protracted conflict with his patron, Hals stopped working on it and Pieter Codde(1599–1678) was asked to finish it.[18] Furthermore, Hals painted group portraits of regents. In 1641 he immortalized theregents of the Saint Elisabeth’s Hospital[19] (Verspronck had earlier portrayed the regentesses) and, in 1664, two years
before his death, Hals produced group portraits of both the regents and the regentesses of the Old Men’s Home, paintings
that are now considered highlights of his oeuvre.[20]© 2024 The Leiden Collection

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Although Hals never wanted for commissions and was probably well paid for his work, he regularly appeared before theCourt of Petty Sessions for arrears in payment. These cases usually involved small amounts, except in 1654, when he owed
a baker 200 guilders. He settled this debt with some objects and five paintings, including Gathering of the Manna by
Maerten van Heemskerck (1498–1575) and Preaching of Saint John the Baptist by Karel van Mander.[21] His exemption
from paying his annual contribution to the Guild of Saint Luke in 1661 was not because of financial difficulties, but rather
his advanced age. Yet even then he seems to have been in dire straits and had to request assistance from the city. Hals diedin 1666 and was buried in the Sint-Bavokerk on 1 September.

- Piet Bakker, 2017

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Page 4 of 7Endnotes
1. Unless otherwise noted, all biographical information on Frans Hals is taken from Irene van ThielStroman, “Frans Franchoisz Hals,” in Painting in Haarlem, 1500–1850: The Collection of the Frans HalsMuseum, ed. Neeltje Köhler (Ghent, 2006), 178–84.
2. This anonymous biography is included in the second edition of Van Mander’s Schilderboeck of 1618.
Irene van Thiel-Stroman, “The Frans Hals Documents: Written and Printed Sources, 1582–1679,” FransHals (Exh. cat. Washington, D.C., National Gallery of Art; London, Royal Academy of Arts; Haarlem,Frans Hals Museum) (London, 1989), 379, doc. 25. Van Mander is also called Hals’s teacher in a New
Year’s greeting by the guild servant addressed to the board and members of the Guild of Saint Luke.
Hessel Miedema, De archiefbescheiden van het St. Lucasgilde te Haarlem (Alphen aan den Rijn, 1980),
1: 309.
3. Of their three children, only Harmen Hals (1611–69), who would become a painter, reached adulthood.
4. Portrait of Job Claesz Gijbland, signed and dated 1611 (Frans Hals Museum, Haarlem).
5. Pieter Biesboer, “The Burghers of Haarlem and Their Portrait Painters,” in Frans Hals (Exh. cat.
Washington, D.C., National Gallery of Art; London, Royal Academy of Arts; Haarlem, Frans HalsMuseum) (London, 1989), 26.
6. Banquet of the Officers of the Saint George Civic Guard, 1616 (Frans Hals Museum, Haarlem); SeymourSlive, Frans Hals (New York, 1974), 3: 5–7, no. 7.
7. Portrait of Isabella Coymans, ca. 1650–52 (Private Collection); Seymour Slive, Frans Hals (New York,1974), 3: 98–99, no. 189; Seymour Slive, Frans Hals (Exh. cat. Washington, D.C., National Gallery ofArt; London, Royal Academy of Arts; Haarlem, Frans Hals Museum) (London, 1989), 323, no. 69. The
pendant of her husband Stephanus Geraerdts is in Antwerp, Koninklijk Museum voor Schone Kunsten.
Seymour Slive, Frans Hals (New York, 1974), 3: 97–98, no. 188; Seymour Slive, Frans Hals (Exh. cat.
Washington, D.C., National Gallery of Art; London, Royal Academy of Arts; Haarlem, Frans HalsMuseum) (London, 1989), 322–23, no. 68.
8. “Hoe wacker schilderd Frans de luyden naer het leven!” Samuel Ampzing, Beschrijvinge ende lof derstad Haerlem in Holland (Haarlem, 1628), 371.
9. “[D]ie soo ghecolereert zijn, dat se schijnen asem van haer te geven, ende te leven.” Theodorus
Schrevelius, Harlemias (Haarlem, 1648), 383.
10. Portrait of Conradus Viëtor, 1644 (The Leiden Collection, New York); see the entry in this catalogue.
See also Seymour Slive, Frans Hals (New York, 1974), 3: 77–78, no. 152. For other examples ofportraits of ministers, see Seymour Slive, Frans Hals (Exh. Cat., Washington, D.C., National Gallery ofArt; London, Royal Academy of Arts; Haarlem, Frans Hals Museum) (London, 1989), 348–49, no. 79.
11. Portrait of Samuel Ampzing, 1630 (The Leiden Collection, New York); see the entry in this catalogue.
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See also Seymour Slive, Frans Hals (New York, 1974), 3: 46, no. 76; Seymour Slive, Frans Hals (Exh.
cat. Washington, D.C., National Gallery of Art; London, Royal Academy of Arts; Haarlem, Frans HalsMuseum) (London, 1989), 246–47, no. 40. Portrait of Theodorus Schrevelius, 1617 (Frans HalsMuseum, Haarlem); Seymour Slive, Frans Hals (New York, 1974), 3: 7, no. 8; Seymour Slive, Frans
Hals (Exh. cat. Washington, D.C., National Gallery of Art; London, Royal Academy of Arts; Haarlem,Frans Hals Museum) (London, 1989), 141–43, no. 5.
12. Portrait of Petrus Scriverius, 1626 (The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York); Seymour Slive, Frans
Hals (New York, 1974), 3: 22–23, no. 36. Portrait of René Descartes, ca. 1649 (Statens Museum,Copenhagen); Seymour Slive, Frans Hals (New York, 1974), 3:89–91, no. 175; Seymour Slive, Frans
Hals (Exh. cat. Washington, D.C., National Gallery of Art; London, Royal Academy of Arts; Haarlem,Frans Hals Museum) (London, 1989), 314–16, no. 66.
13. Pieter Biesboer, “The Burghers of Haarlem and Their Portrait Painters,” in Frans Hals (Exh. cat.
Washington, D.C., National Gallery of Art; London, Royal Academy of Arts; Haarlem, Frans HalsMuseum) (London, 1989), 32–36.
14. In 1635 Judith Leyster quarreled with Frans Hals about a pupil who had left her to apprentice with Hals,in conflict with guild regulations. Irene van Thiel-Stroman, “The Frans Hals Documents: Written andPrinted Sources, 1582–1679,” in Frans Hals (Exh. cat. Washington, D.C., National Gallery of Art;
London, Royal Academy of Arts; Haarlem, Frans Hals Museum) (London, 1989), 388–89, doc. 71.
Relations between the two artists must have been good nevertheless, for when Leyster’s husband, JanMiense Molenaer, died, portraits of both spouses by Hals were listed in the estate inventory.
15. Portrait of Vincent Laurens van de Vinne, late 1650s (Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto); SeymourSlive, Frans Hals (New York, 1974), 3: no. 203; Seymour Slive, Frans Hals (Exh. cat. Washington,D.C., National Gallery of Art; London, Royal Academy of Arts; Haarlem, Frans Hals Museum)(London, 1989), 340–43, no. 76.
16. These are Frans Hals the Younger (1618–before 1678); Jan Hals (ca. 1620–before 1655); Reynier Hals(1627–71); and Nicolaes Hals (1628–86).
17. Officers and Sub-Alterns of the Saint George Civic Guard, ca. 1639 (Frans Hals Museum, Haarlem);Seymour Slive, Frans Hals (New York, 1974), 3: 166–67, no. 124. Hals is the second man on the stairs
at the left.
18. On this conflict, see: Irene van Thiel-Stroman, “The Frans Hals Documents: Written and Printed
Sources, 1582–1679,” Frans Hals (Exh. cat. Washington, D.C., National Gallery of Art; London, Royal
Academy of Arts; Haarlem, Frans Hals Museum) (London, 1989), 389–91, docs. 73–75, 78. According
to Dudok van Heel, Hals must have received this commission through Uylenburg and painted it in thelatter’s workshop in Amsterdam, where it remained unfinished after Rembrandt’s departure. S.A.C.
Dudok van Heel, “De jonge Rembrandt onder tijdgenoten” (PhD diss., Radbout Universiteit, Nijmegen,2006), 116n182. Dudok van Heel, who gave a brief talk on this commission at the invitation of Alfred
Bader for a gathering of Rembrandt experts in England in 2011, is writing an article on this intriguing
matter, which seems to imply that Hals and Rembrandt were personally acquainted, that will be© 2024 The Leiden Collection

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published by the Bader Foundation.
19. The Regents of Saint Elisabeth’s Hospital, 1641 (Frans Hals Museum, Haarlem); Seymour Slive, Frans
Hals (New York, 1974), 3: 73–74, no. 140; Seymour Slive, Frans Hals (Exh. cat. Washington, D.C.,
National Gallery of Art; London, Royal Academy of Arts; Haarlem, Frans Hals Museum) (London,1989), 284–89, no. 54.
20. The Regents of the Old Men’s Home, 1664 (Frans Hals Museum, Haarlem), and The Regentesses of theOld Men’s Home, 1664 (Frans Hals Museum, Haarlem); Seymour Slive, Frans Hals (New York, 1974),
3: 112–13, nos. 221 and 222; Seymour Slive, Frans Hals (Exh. cat. Washington, D.C., National Galleryof Art; London, Royal Academy of Arts; Haarlem, Frans Hals Museum) (London, 1989), 362–69, nos.
85–86.
21. Irene van Thiel-Stroman, “Frans Franchoisz Hals,” in Painting in Haarlem, 1500–1850: The Collection ofthe Frans Hals Museum, ed. Neeltje Köhler (Ghent, 2006), 180.

Literature
Ampzing, Samuel. Beschrijvinge ende lof der stad Haerlem in Holland. Haarlem, 1628, 371.
Schrevelius, Theodorus. Harlemias. Haarlem, 1648, 383.
Houbraken, Arnold. De groote schouburgh der Nederlantsche konstschilders en schilderessen. Amsterdam,1718–21; revised edition published in The Hague, 1753; reprinted in Amsterdam, 1980, 1: 90–96.
Slive, Seymour. Frans Hals. 3 vols. New York, 1970–74.
Slive, Seymour, ed. Frans Hals. Exh. cat. Washington, D.C., National Gallery of Art; London, Royal
Academy of Arts; Haarlem, Frans Hals Museum. London, 1989.
Van Thiel-Stroman, Irene. “Frans Franchoisz Hals.” In Painting in Haarlem, 1500–1850: The Collectionof the Frans Hals Museum. Edited by Pieter Beisboer and Neeltje Köhler, 178–84. Ghent, 2006.
Liedtke, Walter. Frans Hals: Style and Substance. Exh. cat. New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art.
New York, 2011.
Atkins, Christopher. The Signature Style of Frans Hals: Painting, Subjectivity, and the Market in Early
Modernity. Amsterdam, 2012.
Tummers, Anna, and Christopher Atkins. Frans Hals: Eye to Eye with Rembrandt, Rubens and Titian.
Exh. cat. Haarlem, Frans Hals Museum. Rotterdam, 2013.
Erftemeijer, Antoon. Frans Hals: A Phenomenon. Exh. cat. Haarlem, Frans Hals Museum. Rotterdam,2014.
Slive, Seymour. Frans Hals. London, 2014.
Packer, Lelia, and Ashok Roy. Frans Hals: The Male Portrait. Exh. Cat. London, The Wallace
Collection. London, 2021.
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