Frans Hals: The Male Portrait

17 September 2021

The Laughing Cavalier (detail; 1623), Frans Hals. Photo: © The Trustees of the Wallace Collection, London

For the first time since entering the Wallace Collection in 1865, Frans Hals’ The Laughing Cavalier (1624) has some likeminded company. This display of portraits of men by Hals, which have travelled to London from museums in Europe and North America, explores what his efforts in this genre – one which the Golden Age painter returned to repeatedly throughout his career – reveal about the development of his style, progressing from finely detailed compositions to increasingly free handling of paint. The exhibition runs from 22 September–30 January 2022; find out more from the Wallace Collection’s website.

Preview below | View Apollo’s Art Diary here

Portrait of Tieleman Roosterman (1634), Frans Hals.

Portrait of Tieleman Roosterman (1634), Frans Hals. Cleveland Museum of Art

Portrait of a Man, Possibly Nicolaes Pietersz Duyst van Voorhout (c. 1636–38), Frans Hals.

Portrait of a Man, Possibly Nicolaes Pietersz Duyst van Voorhout (c. 1636–38), Frans Hals. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

Portrait of an Unknown Man (c. 1660–63), Frans Hals.

Portrait of an Unknown Man (c. 1660–63), Frans Hals. Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge

The Laughing Cavalier (1623), Frans Hals.

The Laughing Cavalier (1623), Frans Hals. Photo: © The Trustees of the Wallace Collection, London