1582/1583 -1666 · Dutch Golden Age, living portrait and free touch

Fleeting smiles, direct glances, vibrant blacks and visible paintbrushes make Frans Hals one of the most innovative portrait painters of the Dutch Golden Age.

Frans Hals was born in Antwerp around 1582 or 1583. His family left the southern Netherlands during religious unrest and settled in Haarlem, a city where he would spend most of his career. He probably trained with Karel van Mander and became a member of the guild of Saint-Luc in 1610. Hals specialized almost entirely in portraiture, but profoundly renewed the genre. Merchants, brewers, pastors, couples, militia officers, regents, children, musicians and popular figures seem captured the moment they breathe, speak or smile. This impression of snapshot is based on a very controlled construction. In individual portraits, the twisting of the bust, the hand placed on the hip and the oblique gaze give the model a mobile presence. The Laughing Horseman, painted in 1624, is in reality neither a rider nor frankly laughing; his expression, his embroidered costume and his confident pose nevertheless produce exceptional vitality. Hals also excels in collective portraiture. The Banquet of Officers of the Saint-Georges Militia of 1616 organizes ranks, gestures and diagonals around a table, as if the spectator had just entered the room. Each figure remains individualized without breaking the unity of the group. His tronies and gender figures, like La Bohémienne, young singers or drinkers, explore open laughter and expressions that the official portrait rarely reserves for elites. With age, his palette becomes darker and his touch even more economical. The Regents of the Old Men's Hospice, painted in the 1660s, gave blacks, whites and faces a stripped-down gravity. Despite his success, Hals experienced financial difficulties and received help from the city at the end of his life. Despite his success, Hals experienced financial difficulties and received help from the city at the end of his life. Despite his success, Hals experienced financial difficulties and received help from the city at the end of his life. Despite his success, Hals experienced financial difficulties and received help from the city at the end of his life. He died in Haarlem in 1666. Rediscovered in the 19th century, his free brush fascinated Manet, Van Gogh and the Impressionists, who saw him as an ancestor of modern painting. He died in Haarlem in 1666. Rediscovered in the 19th century, his free brush fascinated Manet, Van Gogh and the Impressionists, who saw him as an ancestor of modern painting. He died in Haarlem in 1666. Rediscovered in the 19th century, his free brush fascinated Manet space.

Hals doesn't just paint a face: he paints the moment that face comes alive, just before the smile or speech changes.