How a Dutch artist skillfully caught the smiles of his models on the tip of the brush: Frans Hals

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

Portrait painters are a special caste of masters who are able to invest not only a part of their soul in their creations, but also a part of the soul of the models being portrayed. Today we will talk about a genuine miracle that Dutch artist Frans Hals created in the era of the so-called Golden Age. The main magic of the master was not in his ability to convey the liveliness of the faces and poses of the models, but in the laughter of his heroes - the most attractive part of human facial expressions, which he skillfully caught on the tip of the brush.

Frans Hals (1583-1666) - portrait painter of the Golden Age of Flemish painting. Becoming the founder of the living style in Dutch art, the master became famous for his free style of painting in the portrait genre, as well as his evolutionary approach to group portraiture.

The Flemish painter's pioneering portraiture

The framework of portrait painting in the Baroque and Classicist styles, which were very popular in the art of the Netherlands at the beginning of the 17th century, turned out to be too narrow for Hals, and the master acted as a reformer of the genre almost at the very beginning of his career. He literally sought out the individual character of a person in his inherent movements, gestures, glances and facial expressions.

Thanks to the innovation of Frans Hals, the heroes of the canvases have ceased to be depicted in one single canonical pose, which prevailed for centuries. The artist persistently experimented with the position of human figures in space, abandoning the traditional conventions of a frontal or profile portrait.

The heroes of the canvases of the Dutch painter

In the portraits of Hals, you can see representatives of all walks of life in the Netherlands: burghers, shooters, artisans, representatives of the common people, including children. This kind of democracy in his art was due to the traditions of the era in which the Dutch revolution took place.

Hals, capturing his characters in action, in a specific life situation, emphasized facial expressions, gestures, posture, instantly and accurately grabbing them. He not only reformed individual commissioned and group portraits, but became the creator of a portrait that borders on the genre of everyday life, without detailing it.

It is worth noting that Frans Hals tried to paint commissioned portraits almost always in his workshop. And he always seated his model so that it was illuminated from the left. First of all, the master concentrated on the face and character of the model, and only then he thought about the play of light and shadow on her clothes. He paid even less attention to props and accessories, keeping it to a minimum. So, for example, in order to emphasize the high position of the customer, he needed gloves or a fan.

The famous Khalsian "Gypsy" is not a custom-made portrait. Probably, any other Dutch portrait painter would include her in some genre scene, adding, for example, a cavalier or even two to a "gypsy" woman, an old pimp, or a few coins that would explain how much her sly smile and high chest lifted by her bodice cost … But Khals remained true to himself, he, as always, is laconic, he did not expand the plot with any details.

About the artist

Born in 1582 in the family of the Flemish weaver François Hals van Mechelen and his second wife Adriantier in the city of Antwerp. Four years later, the family moved to Haarlem, where he was a painter and lived his entire life. The basics of painting were taught by Karel van Mander. But the manner of the mannerist teacher did not have much influence on Hals, he soon developed his own author's handwriting and in 1610 became a member of the Guild of St. Luke. France began his creative career with restoration work at the city hall.

Hals created his first portrait in 1611, but fame came to him much later - after the painting “Banquet of officers of the rifle company of St. George”, written in 1616. The early work of the artist was characterized by genre scenes and compositions on religious themes. And his style was distinguished by a passion for warm tones, a clear modeling of forms with the help of heavy dense strokes.

As for the artist's personal life, it should be noted that the artist's first marriage ended tragically: during the second birth, his wife and newborn son died. From this marriage, the artist had his firstborn. In his second marriage with Lisbeth Reiners Hals lived for almost half a century. The wife gave birth to eleven children to the painter. By the way, his five sons later became quite good portrait painters.

In the years 1620-1630, Khals creates a number of portraits in which he depicted energetic and perky representatives of the people: "Jester with a lute", "Merry drinking companion", "Malle Babbe", "Gypsy", "Mulatto", "Boy-fisherman" …

The period from 1630 to 1640 was the peak of the highest popularity of the master of the portrait genre. Hals painted many double portraits of married couples, in the form of diptychs: the husband on the left portrait, and the wife on the right. The only canvas where the spouses are depicted together is "The Family Portrait of Isaac Massa and His Wife" (1622).

And what is curious, when the artist, according to the wishes of the customer, had to depict a landscape in the background, Hals always turned to the familiar landscape painter Peter Molein.

However, over the years, having become difficult to climb, not wanting to leave his native Harlem, Hals refused orders if for this it was necessary to go to Amsterdam or somewhere else. By the way, the only group portrait he started in Amsterdam had to be finished by another artist.

Hals's later works are performed in a very free manner and are solved in a sparse color scheme, built on the contrasts of black and white tones and shades: "A Man in Black Clothes (1650-1652)," Portrait of Willem Cruz (around 1660). In addition, a sense of deep depression pessimism manifested itself in some of them: "Regents of the Shelter for the Elderly", "Regents of the Shelter for the Elderly": both written in 1664.

Over time, the laughter of the Khalsian heroes began to lose its former joy, as the artist himself gradually lost it. In old age, Frans Hals stopped receiving any orders at all and fell into poverty. The artist died in the Harlem poorhouse in 1666.

Afterword

In addition to all the "eccentricities" of the Flemish master, I would like to note that he almost never signed his works - probably believing that his unique style of painting and laughing images are his calling card, successfully replacing his autograph.

In total, about three hundred works attributed to the artist by art critics have survived to this day. And now the largest collection of works by the Dutch painter is in the Frans Hals Museum in his hometown of Haarlem. Also, many of his paintings are on display at the Amsterdam Rijksmuseum.

Due to the manner of Hals, for whom it was most important to emphasize in the person being portrayed precisely human, and not class features, not all wealthy customers liked this, "too realistic" approach of the master. But those who nevertheless decided to pose for the artist are now rewarded a hundredfold. Their faces look alive even after more than three centuries.

By the way, the great Van Gogh once said about his painting that Hals has "no less than 27 shades of black." This portrait of him was depicted on the Dutch 10 guilder banknote circulated in 1970-1990 …

Continuing the topic of living portraits, we suggest visiting gallery of works by Christian Seybold- Austrian portrait painter, whose biography was lost in the mists of time.