Frans Hals. Master of the Fleeting Moment at the Gemäldegalerie

From 12 July to 3 November 2024, the Gemäldegalerie presents the exhibition “Frans Hals. Master of the Fleeting Moment”

Source: Die Staatlichen Museen zu Berlin · Image: Frans Hals, “Der Lautenspieler”, 1623/24, Paris, Musée du Louvre Photo, © RMN-Grand Palais (Musée du Louvre) / Franck Raux

Along with Rembrandt and Vermeer, Frans Hals ranks among the most outstanding Dutch painters of the 17th century. In addition to unconventional, expressive portraits, he was the first artist in Holland to paint social outsiders as individuals in portrait format. Like no other artist of the early modern period, the rediscovery of the Haarlem painter in the 19th century shaped the development of modern painting. In cooperation with the National Gallery, London, and the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, the Gemäldegalerie is organizing a comprehensive monographic exhibition of some 70 works.

Today, Frans Hals (1582/83–1666) is considered one of the most important portraitists who ever lived. In addition to large-format portraits of civic militias and regents, he created numerous individual portraits of the Dutch citizenry in Haarlem, where he spent almost his entire life. In addition, he painted genre figures such as singers, entertainers, and fisher children as half-figures in close-up. The people Hals depicted are characterized by their unusually great liveliness and striking characterization. His sketch-like paintings, executed with loose, bold brushstrokes, influenced painters of the late 19th century. The Impressionists saw in Hals one of their forerunners.

With nine works, the Berlin Gemäldegalerie holds one of the most extensive and high-caliber collections of paintings by Frans Hals in the world, including highlights such as the “Malle Babbe”, the “Portrait of Catharina Hooft with Her Nurse”, and the “Singing Boy with Flute”.