An arty outing...
Today it's very warm for October - I went to London to visit the National Gallery and people were wearing shorts and summer dresses! I wore a T-shirt and had bare feet with sandals, and I'm very glad I did as it was 24C/75F in Trafalgar Square (it should be around 16C/60F).
I went to see the Frans Hals Exhibition - he's one of my favourite Dutch painters (there's a flavour of the exhibition in a short video on that page if you don't want to read this rather long picspammy post).
I particularly love his portraits which are so natural that you really feel that you would recognise the people if you saw them in real life. He's very unusual in that he will also paint people laughing and smiling which was not the fashion at the time when portraits were far more formal and women in particular would look composed and virtuous. Under the cut for a few of my favourite paintings from the exhibition which covered the whole of Frans Hals long life (1582-1666).
One of the things I really love about Frans Hals is the way he can suggest something with a few flicks of the paint. He is particularly good at painting women's clothing which of course would have been very popular as it meant the painting reflected the wealth of the sitter.
Here we have Portrait of a Woman Standing from around 1612. Hals rarely made preparatory sketches, preferring to just get on with the painting, so it's even more remarkable that he can suggest something as ethreal as the woman's cap with just a few flicks of the paint brush.
Beautiful detail
The Laughing Cavalier (1624) is on loan from The Wallace Collection - this 26-year-old man was neither a Cavalier nor laughing - the nickname was given to the painting when it was shown in England in the 19th Century. With one hand akimbo (on his hip) in the manner of the Renaissance period (sometimes known as the Renaissance elbow):
The Renaissance elbow again - in this 1637 Portrait of a Man (possibly Nicolaes Pietersz Duyst van Voorhout). Also - satin material is indicated with just a few strokes of the brush.
Full-length portraits are very rare in 17th-century Dutch art and this is the only one known to have been painted by Hals. Willem van Heythuysen was an incredibly wealthy cloth merchant and clearly wanted something spectacular for his portrait in 1625 (it was huge):
This large group portrait of the Militia (a cross between the police and a military force) is interesting in that Hals only painted some of the figures to the far left. This militia company asked Hals to come to Amsterdam to paint them, and he travelled from his home in Haarlem. He completed the man standing with the orange standard and sash, the two men sitting in front of him and four men behind them (and planned the rest of the composition).
However, he did not complete it and refused to return to Amsterdam saying they needed to come to his studio in Haarlem instead (as he was busy and he couldn't leave his apprentices). They got impatient as every time they asked him to come he said no, so they got another painter (Pieter Codde) to finish it and he copied Hals style as far as he could. I think they all sounded very stubborn!
Militia Company of District XI under the Command of Captain Reynier Reael, known as the Meagre Company (1633 - finished by Codde in 1637)
Another example of how well Hals can paint fabric details which I loved - Cunera van Baersdorp (1625) is shown looking very confident with her bent elbow (a very unusual and rare pose for a woman showing her strength of character!):
The skill needed to paint this black fabric (which is gorgeous!) is amazing...
Hals liked to create comic and imagined figures in paintings and 'genre' paintings. Laughter is really hard to capture (imagine sitting for hours holding a smile or a laugh), but Frans Hals could do it really convincingly. Contemporary viewers would have thought people showing their teeth were 'indelicate', but it's done for comic effect. The Merry Lute Player (1624-8)
Capturing a moment - who is this flute player talking to - has he just finished playing? Boy with a Flute (1627)
An actor or just a 'tronie' (a fictitious portrait) showing that life is fleeting and death comes to us all? Young Man holding a Skull (1627)
I love his hand reaching forward.
This newly cleaned portrait of Isaac Abrahamsz Massa (one of Frans Hals good friends) revealed some interesting changes in the composition (a monster and a skull) during the process which you can see in this short video here.
Massa appears with his wife in this portrait. I love how casual this is Portrait of a Couple, probably Isaaz Abrahamsz Massa and Beatrix van der Laen (1622):
Detail from the bottom right of the portrait
Massa again in a very relaxed pose used a lot by Hals in his portraits and was the only artist to do so at the time. I like how this seems to capture the personality of the sitter Portrait of Isaac Abrahamsz Massa (1626). Massa was a wealthy grain merchant who also acted as a Diplomat when travelling to Moscow.
Another lesson in how to paint embroidery black on black satin..Portrait of Catharina Brugman (1624)
A few strokes of paint indicate creases in the satin decoration, and the gloves (an expensive accessory in the 1600s).
This Portrait of Jasper Schade (1645) shows how later in life Hals could suggest embroidery with just a few strokes of his brush. Jasper Schade is clearly very conscious of his lovely clothing (he had a reputation for spending a great deal on it). From a distance, it looks like a taffeta jacket...
Up close...
I really enjoyed the exhibition (there was far more than I've highlighted here - I was there for over two hours), and I'm looking forward to going back with Mr Cee at the end of October as he likes Dutch painting from the Golden Age too.
Later we have our Tuesday Pilates lesson and today's question is: 10 - Shift10 Day: SHIFT10 Day was created to encourage shoppers to shift 10% of their spending into their local economies to support local businesses, farmers' markets, and other alternatives to big box stores. Do you try to shop locally as much as possible or do the ease and convenience of big box stores and online juggernauts like Amazon win out more often than not?
I shop locally when I can, but it's getting harder and harder to actually see things in RL these days. It's so frustrating - particularly for large goods such as 'fridges or ovens. I always buy clothing in person if I can as I am not a standard size/shape (and shoes whenever I can). It's a sad fact that if you are on a budget online is often so much cheaper than shops on the High Street, but we do our best to support local businesses when we can.
I went to see the Frans Hals Exhibition - he's one of my favourite Dutch painters (there's a flavour of the exhibition in a short video on that page if you don't want to read this rather long picspammy post).
I particularly love his portraits which are so natural that you really feel that you would recognise the people if you saw them in real life. He's very unusual in that he will also paint people laughing and smiling which was not the fashion at the time when portraits were far more formal and women in particular would look composed and virtuous. Under the cut for a few of my favourite paintings from the exhibition which covered the whole of Frans Hals long life (1582-1666).
One of the things I really love about Frans Hals is the way he can suggest something with a few flicks of the paint. He is particularly good at painting women's clothing which of course would have been very popular as it meant the painting reflected the wealth of the sitter.
Here we have Portrait of a Woman Standing from around 1612. Hals rarely made preparatory sketches, preferring to just get on with the painting, so it's even more remarkable that he can suggest something as ethreal as the woman's cap with just a few flicks of the paint brush.
Beautiful detail
The Laughing Cavalier (1624) is on loan from The Wallace Collection - this 26-year-old man was neither a Cavalier nor laughing - the nickname was given to the painting when it was shown in England in the 19th Century. With one hand akimbo (on his hip) in the manner of the Renaissance period (sometimes known as the Renaissance elbow):
The Renaissance elbow again - in this 1637 Portrait of a Man (possibly Nicolaes Pietersz Duyst van Voorhout). Also - satin material is indicated with just a few strokes of the brush.
Full-length portraits are very rare in 17th-century Dutch art and this is the only one known to have been painted by Hals. Willem van Heythuysen was an incredibly wealthy cloth merchant and clearly wanted something spectacular for his portrait in 1625 (it was huge):
This large group portrait of the Militia (a cross between the police and a military force) is interesting in that Hals only painted some of the figures to the far left. This militia company asked Hals to come to Amsterdam to paint them, and he travelled from his home in Haarlem. He completed the man standing with the orange standard and sash, the two men sitting in front of him and four men behind them (and planned the rest of the composition).
However, he did not complete it and refused to return to Amsterdam saying they needed to come to his studio in Haarlem instead (as he was busy and he couldn't leave his apprentices). They got impatient as every time they asked him to come he said no, so they got another painter (Pieter Codde) to finish it and he copied Hals style as far as he could. I think they all sounded very stubborn!
Militia Company of District XI under the Command of Captain Reynier Reael, known as the Meagre Company (1633 - finished by Codde in 1637)
Another example of how well Hals can paint fabric details which I loved - Cunera van Baersdorp (1625) is shown looking very confident with her bent elbow (a very unusual and rare pose for a woman showing her strength of character!):
The skill needed to paint this black fabric (which is gorgeous!) is amazing...
Hals liked to create comic and imagined figures in paintings and 'genre' paintings. Laughter is really hard to capture (imagine sitting for hours holding a smile or a laugh), but Frans Hals could do it really convincingly. Contemporary viewers would have thought people showing their teeth were 'indelicate', but it's done for comic effect. The Merry Lute Player (1624-8)
Capturing a moment - who is this flute player talking to - has he just finished playing? Boy with a Flute (1627)
An actor or just a 'tronie' (a fictitious portrait) showing that life is fleeting and death comes to us all? Young Man holding a Skull (1627)
I love his hand reaching forward.
This newly cleaned portrait of Isaac Abrahamsz Massa (one of Frans Hals good friends) revealed some interesting changes in the composition (a monster and a skull) during the process which you can see in this short video here.
Massa appears with his wife in this portrait. I love how casual this is Portrait of a Couple, probably Isaaz Abrahamsz Massa and Beatrix van der Laen (1622):
Detail from the bottom right of the portrait
Massa again in a very relaxed pose used a lot by Hals in his portraits and was the only artist to do so at the time. I like how this seems to capture the personality of the sitter Portrait of Isaac Abrahamsz Massa (1626). Massa was a wealthy grain merchant who also acted as a Diplomat when travelling to Moscow.
Another lesson in how to paint embroidery black on black satin..Portrait of Catharina Brugman (1624)
A few strokes of paint indicate creases in the satin decoration, and the gloves (an expensive accessory in the 1600s).
This Portrait of Jasper Schade (1645) shows how later in life Hals could suggest embroidery with just a few strokes of his brush. Jasper Schade is clearly very conscious of his lovely clothing (he had a reputation for spending a great deal on it). From a distance, it looks like a taffeta jacket...
Up close...
I really enjoyed the exhibition (there was far more than I've highlighted here - I was there for over two hours), and I'm looking forward to going back with Mr Cee at the end of October as he likes Dutch painting from the Golden Age too.
Later we have our Tuesday Pilates lesson and today's question is: 10 - Shift10 Day: SHIFT10 Day was created to encourage shoppers to shift 10% of their spending into their local economies to support local businesses, farmers' markets, and other alternatives to big box stores. Do you try to shop locally as much as possible or do the ease and convenience of big box stores and online juggernauts like Amazon win out more often than not?
I shop locally when I can, but it's getting harder and harder to actually see things in RL these days. It's so frustrating - particularly for large goods such as 'fridges or ovens. I always buy clothing in person if I can as I am not a standard size/shape (and shoes whenever I can). It's a sad fact that if you are on a budget online is often so much cheaper than shops on the High Street, but we do our best to support local businesses when we can.