Two imposing paintings of the same sitter painted a decade apart showcase the revolutionary technique of Frans Hals (1582/83–1666), the first great portraitist of 17th-century Holland. Hals, along with Rembrandt and Vermeer, is considered to be one of the most prominent painters of the Dutch Baroque era. He was recognized for “painting character” through virtuosic, loose, and animated brushwork.
The portraits of Pieter Jacobsz. Olycan, one of the most powerful men in the Dutch city of Haarlem, are perhaps unique for the artist’s oeuvre as he rarely painted the same subject twice. Exhibited side-by-side for the first time in Frans Hals: Detecting a Decade, the paintings show Olycan’s changing appearance as he grew older and demonstrate the evolution of Hals’s style at the peak of his career.
Focus Installation
Admission is FREE.
Read more from the exhibition here.
Got Frans Hals questions? We're collecting questions about this revolutionary portraitist to pose to curator and scholar Dr. Christopher Atkins for an upcoming virtual talk. Email yours to publicprograms@dma.org and keep an eye out for more event details!
Programs
Virtual Exhibition Talk: Frans Hals, Style, and Individuality
Frans Hals: Detecting a Decade is organized by the Dallas Museum of Art. The Dallas Museum of Art is supported, in part, by the generosity of DMA Members and donors, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Texas Commission on the Arts, and the citizens of Dallas through the City of Dallas Office of Arts and Culture.
Images: Frans Hals: Detecting a Decade at the Dallas Museum of Art; Frans Hals, Portrait of Pieter Jacobsz. Olycan, 1629–1630, oil on panel, Private Collection, by Courtesy of David Koetser Gallery, Zurich; Frans Hals, Pieter Jacobsz. Olycan, c. 1639, oil on canvas, The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art, Bequest of John Ringling, 1936, SN251