HALS, FRANS

born 1581/85, Antwerp, Spanish Netherlands [now in Belgium] died Sept. 1, 1666, Haarlem, Neth. great 17th-century portraitist of the Dutch bourgeoisie of Haarlem, where he spent practically all his life. Hals evolved a technique that was close to impressionism in its looseness, and he painted with increasing freedom as he grew older. The jovial spirit of his early work is typified by The Merry Company (c. 161617; Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City). In middle age his portraits grew increasingly sad, revealing sometimes a sense of foreboding (e.g., Nicolaes Hasselaer, c. 163033; Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam). The paintings of his old age show best his genius for portraying character (e.g., Man in a Slouch Hat, c. 166066; State Art Collection, Kassel, Ger.). Additional reading Bibliography and criticism include Wilhelm von Bode, Frans Hals und seine Schule (1871); Frederik Schmidt-Degener, Frans Hals in Haarlem (1901) and Frans Hals (1924); Andr Fontainas, Frans Hals (1908), in French; Hermann Knackfuss, Frans Hals (1913), in German; F. Dulberg, Frans Hals: Ein Leben und ein Werk (1930); W. Martin, Frans Hals en zijn Tijd (1935); Eduard Pleitzsch, Frans Hals (1940), in German; K. Bauch, Frans Hals: Ein Vortrag (1943); G.D. Gratama, Frans Hals (1943); and T. Luns, Frans Hals (1946), both in Dutch; Erich Hohne, Frans Hals (1957), in German; Pierre Descargues, Hals: Biographical and Critical Study (1968); Seymour Slive, Frans Hals, 2 vol. (1971), with bibliography; and Georg van der Groot (ed.), Frans Hals, His Life, His Paintings (1978).A selection of catalogs is Cornelius Hofstede de Groot, A Catalogue Raisonn of the Works of the Most Eminent Dutch Painters of the Seventeenth Century (1910); Wilhelm von Bode and M.J. Binder, Frans Hals: Sein Leben und seine werke, 2 vol. (1914); W.R. Valentiner and Karl Voll, Frans Hals, 2nd ed. (1923); N.S. Trivas, The Paintings of Frans Hals (1941); and Seymour Slive, Frans Hals, 2 vol. (1971).