Frans Hals, (born 1581/85, Antwerp, Spanish Netherlands—died Aug. 29, 1666, Haarlem, Neth.), Dutch portrait painter. He spent his life in Haarlem, where he was registered as a master by the Guild of St. Luke in 1610. His group portraits of members of local guilds and military societies, notably the monumental Banquet of Officers of the Civic Guard of St. George (1616), were painted with a technique close to Impressionism in its looseness, unique in Dutch art at the time. He introduced a jovial spirit that revolutionized portraiture and set him apart from his contemporaries. His subjects exude joie de vivre, with an occasional hint of sadness. After 1650 he portrayed elderly people who nervously display the spark of life even as it flickers; these portraits, such as The Women Regents of the Almshouse at Haarlem (1664), are his masterpieces. His work greatly influenced Édouard Manet, Vincent van Gogh, and Robert Henri.
Frans Hals Article
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painting Summary
Painting, the expression of ideas and emotions, with the creation of certain aesthetic qualities, in a two-dimensional visual language. The elements of this language—its shapes, lines, colors, tones, and textures—are used in various ways to produce sensations of volume, space, movement, and light