The large exhibition: Frans Hals and the Moderns in the Frans Hals Museum in Haarlem (The Netherlands) recently opened. &Bloom was at the press opening and learned that artist Frans Hals, after he was rediscovered 150 years ago, became a true idol.
Creativity needs to be fed, it’s as simple as that. That’s why we at &Bloom regularly go out to explore art and culture. This time we went down to the quite vibrant Haarlem in The Netherlands, where you will, next to the Frans Hals Museum, also find the Teylers Museum for the exhibition of drawings by Leonardo da Vinci (yep, combination tickets are possible). You’d might want to call Frans Hals a ‘late-bloomer’. For most the 18century and the first half of the 19th century, he was totally ignored by art critics. We hear you thinking, why?! His loose style of painting was associated with a ‘frivolous way of life’, in other words: he had the image of a promiscuous drunk.
From profligate drunk to modern idol
Fortunately this didn’t remain for long. Exactly 150 years ago, Frans Hals was rediscovered by the influential French art critic Theóphile Thoré Bürger and as a result, his image rapidly changed. A rock star we wouldn’t call him, but a modern idol for sure. Admired and worshiped by late 19th-century artists such as Manet and Van Gogh. They were fascinated by the loose touch and raw style of painting that was slightly ‘impressionistic’. The modern painters frantically started copying Hals, and even travelled from all over the world to Haarlem. By these means they hoped to master the painting style Hals once used, and understand better how he had created his paintings. Copying just happened using an easel, canvas and palette in the museum, in the hall where the paintings hung. The artists got their ass as close as possible to the paintings, something that we nowadays no longer can imagine happening in museums.
Malle Babbe
At the exhibition you’ll find copies of the modern age, in addition to the original works by Frans Hals. An example? The famous Malle Babbe! The original of Frans Hals made in 1633/1635 hangs next to a copy of Gustave Courbet made in 1869. Curator of Ancient Art of the Frans Hals Museum Anna Scheepers says about the original: “Hals, portraying a mentally ill woman in the seventeenth century was revolutionary.” The painting Malle Babbe, just like several other works were returned to their hometown, due to the exhibition. At the exhibition, you can admire borrowed works from (inter)national museums as well as private collections. Moreover, there are works to explore that never before were seen in the Netherlands. Frans Hals and the Moderns in the Frans Hals Museum in Haarlem t/m 24 February 2019.
