Published: 15/01/2024
I was inspired by the recent online lecture from Sophie Oosterwijk about “The Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam” to visit the Frans Hals exhibition before it closes in London and moves to the Rijksmuseum itself.
The exhibition brings together some fifty works, displaying, among other delights, pairs of marriage portraits hung alongside each other for the first time in years. In the words of the National Gallery website: “Four hundred years since they were painted, Frans Hals’s portraits still breathe with life. There’s the hint of a smile, a hand resting nonchalantly on a hip, and just occasionally, a burst of laughter.”
I have never really warmed to portrait painting, and I knew little of Hals’ work beyond theLaughing Cavalier, but this exhibition changed my mind and gave me a much better appreciation of how talented Hals was. He brought people to life, and you get a real sense of the personalities of his subjects. With deft, expressive, and often free brush work, he created portraits that burst with energy. He was adept at portraying smiles and laughter and the poses he used could be relaxed and informal. I was in awe of his ability to depict the intricacies of lace and the material of clothing. The clothing is often black and white but faces glow with colour. Many of his subjects were wealthy Dutch citizens but he also painted musicians and other characters based on his imagination.
The exhibition closes on 21 January 2024, and then moves on. As is often the case with major exhibitions, it is a collaborative endeavour and brings together paintings from a wide range of public and private collections.
Rob Bollington, January 2024
