Dirck Hals

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Merry Company, 1635, Mauritshuis
Dirck Hals, Merry Company, Staatsgalerie Stuttgart, 1640

Dirck Hals (19 March 1591 – 17 May 1656), born at

Dutch Golden Age painter of merry company scenes, festivals and ballroom scenes. He played a role in the development of these types of genre painting. He was somewhat influenced by his elder brother Frans Hals
, but painted few portraits.

Biography

According to Houbraken he was the brother of the painter Frans Hals and was specialized in small paintings of "conversation pieces" or "merry companies" (Dutch: Gezelschapjes), scenes of small groups drinking and enjoying themselves. The Haarlem writer Samuel Ampzing mentions both brothers in his Praise of Haarlem with a poem stating that both brothers were exceptional; Frans painting his portraits "awake", and Dirck painting his figures "purely".[1]

According to the RKD he worked in

Waalse Kerk (Haarlem).[2]

References

  1. Digital library for Dutch literature
  2. ^
    RKD

External links