New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1902-09-28


Thus Frans Halls. born only twelve or four.
teen years after the opening of the war of linda
pendence began his life painter in an nj
mosphere far more favorable to the deveIonuen,
of his genius than might be assumed on a suner
fetal glance at the question Holland NAV hav.
been in eruption. but he painted Holland in rA-
pose. Even the staggering volunteers innor-
taIized in his wonderful corporation pieces ara
warriors on holiday, and, in short, all of thi.
masters work is dedicated to themes suggestive.
of anything rather than the throes of nation
in revolt. Mr. Davies notes that Halls never
painted a religious, a classical. an historical or
a, nude subject; that he never painted a subject
lin which either a moral motive a pathetic
motive was the raison d'etre of the picture"
What he did do was to set upon the canvas, in
moments of peaceful enjoyment absolute
placidity the personalities of men and women
who were apparently capable of heroic deeds on
one day, but of contented forgetfulness Of them
on the next Nature IN Its wholly normal aspect
was the foundation of his work
We know next to nothing of the man himself
He loved the material side of life. loved it. per-
haps, too well, for among the few details Of his
private career that remain to us there some
proving pretty conclusively that his morals were
none of the best. If his old age was dreary and
he died a poor man, his cOnvivial habits were
Halls as a prudent, saving man He enjoyed his
food and his drink, and took no thought Of tho
morrow. But in so far as we can reconstruct
the nature of the man from his work.
doubtedly safe in affirming that he loved sim
cerity and truth. These are the qualities that
shine out from all his paintings, and they are
the qualities moreover, by virtue Of which IL
was alone possible for him to succeed as por-
trait painter in the Holland OF that ume
Patrons were not as complaisant then as they
are now They paid good money TO painter
for good work, and what good work meant to
them Mr. Davies well illustrates in the following
passage:
The nation had reached point of prosperity
in which the standard OF comfort was n4 ai
out high; great proportion of citlzens had al
ready attained to that surplus winch sooAeI VI
later in all communities. in some shape OF oIaer,
gets itself applied to the luxurles Oh hIe' anu oi
which the Measure of the eye-that Is TO say,
some form of arts the most obvious anu
the most universal. The peasant ana the nsner
man had already satisfied this desire by carving
and painting for himself his manSIepOard' MS
plate rack his cradle and his siedge Inc mer-
chant and the trader must now SStl4SIy ms $50
ing by covering a space upon his "dlI WIZ
portrait of himself and of his Vr0uW-perhaps
even of the nurse and the baby Ihey niuSt De
of a good size and very like. This was lndeeu'
~ - tosta To the Dutch But there was gen.
eraIIv a spare wall space on which rev slilailer
pictures might appear. They, 100. Must DG -
like. and they must De
honest burgher and his wife and ms IrlenuS
c1,115 OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES left TO the magma
tioD nothing which demanded Seconu SlSHt "
sDirituaI intuition 1t must De some tnIh6 w -
he and the yrOuW had seen or cOulu SEE any ~
IF the week-else how could they zen l. II 80 80
like None of your visions. none Oh Soui - as.
sirs nom. of your herocs, but a PLAIN piece out
Of daily Dutch life. And it must be zone 50
that Won can see the thing; none OF !oul Su5
c,actiGns none of your impresSlonlsInS- lou
S,nst he able to count each button 70 lIdce
aacb fold To- number each brick just as v4 -.
in real life. And there must pe no sLtu-7 -
naint- Won must not be able TO see WheFe tne
hrI,sb has been since that can be only Gthsi-lS
80 unfinished sort OF stuff and as there are
no brush sweeps in nature. 1t cannot say X 10
reaIIv like if YOU can see too much OF THESE
A situation such as that described IN lne Iole-
Going extract would seem i'll calculated 10 pro-
duce a brilliant school Of art But as -"i-
Tavis likes to insist it is not the situation thal
nroduces the painter; the latter receives at Els
birth qualities that determine the character oA
bfs art without reference TO any external sl'uS-
ito, ,rbataver There were scores of painters III
the time of Halls who. receiving commission III
the hu1ndrum spirit in which II was Ol-eieN'
nainted commonplace people in a cornihohpIdee
way That was because they were cohl'lloh-
n1aca themselves Frans Halls took similar COM
missions but he could not have been coIninoh-
n1ace if he had tried. He was man OF genus
and he stamped his genius upon the por1ralIs
that he made for all that he was 1althIul u
his contracts. and gave his patrons the Sood
likeness they demanded HIS carry "OIN Id.
disappeared Information about his period OF
tlfF,r