Frans Hals - Legacy

Legacy

Hals' reputation waned after his death and for two centuries he was held in such poor esteem that some of his paintings, which are now among the proudest possessions of public galleries, were sold at auction for a few pounds or even shillings. The portrait of Johannes Acronius realized five shillings at the Enschede sale in 1786. The portrait of the man with the sword at the Liechtenstein gallery sold in 1800 for 4, 5s.

Starting at the middle of the 1860s his prestige rose again thanks to the efforts of critic Théophile Thoré-Bürger. With his rehabilitation in public esteem came the enormous rise in values, and, at the Secretan sale in 1889, the portrait of Pieter van de Broecke Danvers was bid up to 4,420, while in 1908 the National Gallery paid 25,000 for the large group from the collection of Lord Talbot de Malahide.

Hals' work remains popular today, particularly with young painters who can find many lessons about practical technique from his unconcealed brushstrokes. Hals' works have found their way to countless other cities all over the world and into museum collections. From the late 19th century, they were collected everywhere — from Antwerp to Toronto, and from London to New York. Many of his paintings were then sold to American collectors.

A primary collection of his work is displayed in the Frans Hals Museum in Haarlem.

Hals was pictured on the Dutch 10-guilder banknote.

• Banquet of the Officers of the St George Civic Guard, 1627

• Catharina Hooft with her Nurse, c. 1619-1620

• Family Portrait in a Landscape, c. 1620

• Three Children with a Goat Cart, c. 1620

• Portrait Of A Man, 1630

• Jacobus Zaffius, 1611

• Jonker Ramp and his Sweetheart, 1623

• Married Couple in a Garden, 1622

• Peeckelhaering, c. 1628-1630

• The Mulatto, 1627

• Portrait of a Man Holding a Skull, c.1615

• Youth with a Skull, c. 1626-1628, National Gallery, London

• Portrait of a Woman, 1644

• The Jolly Drinker, c. 1628-1630

• Shrovetide Revellers, c. 1615

• Singing Boy with a Flute

• St. Matthew, c. 1625

• The Rommel Pot Player, c.1618-1622

• Two Boys Singing, c. 1625

• Assembly of Officers and Subalterns of the Civic Guard / Archers of St. Adrian, 1633

• Portrait of Isaak Abrahamsz. Massa, 1626

• Daniel van Aken

• Boy with a lute c. 1625 The Metropolitan Museum of Art

• Regents of the St Elizabeth Hospital of Haarlem, 1641