RKD STUDIES

We only have a vague and incomplete picture of the historical person Frans Hals. It is based on hand-written and printed sources that relate directly or indirectly to his life and the historical context of his work. Irene van Thiel-Stroman made them available in a compilation to a larger public in the appendix of the catalogue for the Hals exhibition in 1989/1990 that was edited by Seymour Slive.¹ Her publication forms the basis for the following remarks.

Frans Hals was probably born in Antwerp in 1582 or 1583. He was the eldest son of the cloth weaver Franchois Hals (1542-1610) from Mechelen and Adriana van Geertenrijck (1552-1616). His brother Joost was probably born in 1584 or 1585. When Antwerp fell to Spanish troops on 15 August 1585, the family left town and moved to the Northern Netherlands, together with many other refugees. The move must have taken place before 18 July 1586, when a new tenant was documented at their former living quarters. The younger brother Dirck Hals (1591-1656), who was to be a successful painter of conversation pieces, was baptized in the Reformed church in Haarlem on 19 March 1591 - the first documentary evidence of the family there. When a member of the Antwerp civic guard, father Franchois Hals was still listed as a Catholic. This may be interpreted in different ways, perhaps it was only a temporary assimilation. In any case, Frans Hals was also baptized a Catholic, for otherwise he would not have needed to convert to the Reformed faith in 1655. The Catholic affiliation of the father and the sons Frans and Joost certainly raises the question whether the reasons for the family leaving Antwerp were religious or economic.

The biography that was added to the second edition of Karel van Mander’s (1548-1606) Schilder-Boeck in 1618, lists Frans Hals as a pupil in Van Mander's workshop.² The training must have come to an end halfway through 1603 at the latest, when Van Mander retreated to Huis Sevenberghe (now Marquette) near Heemskerk in order to write the entries for the above-mentioned compendium of biographies. In 1610, about 28 years old, Hals was listed as a member of the Haarlem guild of St Luke. It remains unclear what he had done in the meantime, whether he was a journeyman with another master – be it in Haarlem or elsewhere. It is probable that Hals had been an assistant in Van Mander’s workshop and that in the seven years prior to his first dated work – the 1611 Portrait of Jacobus Hendricksz. Zaffius (A1.1) – he had already produced paintings. Also, he must have painted more pictures between 1611 and 1615 than those that have been preserved today, since we only know of one per year on average. His early works were probably more mannerist in style and not necessarily portraits. It is not clear at all whether the Banquet in a Park [27] – destroyed by fire in 1945 – was one of those works, or whether it was instead painted by Dirck Hals or by an unknown follower of Willem Buytewech (c. 1591/1592-1624). The fact that in Hals’s paintings physical proportions as well as anatomical observation of moving and foreshortened hands were absolutely confident from the very first preserved portraits onwards – lacking mistakes that can be found for example in the young Rembrandt, or in the work of later assistants in Hals's own workshop – is a testimony to his solid training and years of practice.

In 1610 or 1611 Hals married Anneke Harmensdr. Abeels (1590-1615). Their first child Harmen was baptized on 2 September 1611. On 12 May 1613 a child of Hals's first marriage was buried, and on 31 May 1613 his wife Anneke was interred in the paupers’ grave of the Chapel of the Holy Ghost, indicating poor pecuniary circumstances. On 5 August 1615 Hals received a share of circa 565 guilders from the assets of his first wife's grandfather, as an inheritance for him and his two surviving underage children. The two children were cared for by Neeltje Leenders, who sued Hals for reimbursement of her expenses on three occasions in 1616. On 4 September 1616 another child from Hals's first marriage was buried; only the firstborn son Harmen survived. With the death of his first wife Hals lost newly-gained connections to influential relatives. ‘Anneke’s guardian was her rich uncle Job Claesz. Gijbland (1572-1636), a member of the city council and an officer of the St. George guard. Job was married to Anthonia Jansdr. Huydecoper, a member of one of Amsterdam’s most prestigious and affluent families. Anthonia, also known as Teuntje, stood as Harmen’s godmother at his baptism’.³ But even in 1611 Job Gijbland had his portrait painted not by Hals, but by Frans Pietersz. de Grebber (c. 1573-1649) [28]. Nobody contributed anything in 1615 to give Anneke a decent burial, and even when the wealthy relatives died in the 1630s, neither the godson Harmen nor anybody else in the Hals family received a bequest. Whatever the reasons for this distance may have been, it is possible that Hals did owe his first major commission, the Banquet of the officers of the St George civic guard (A2.0), to his connection to Gijbland.

Frans Hals and Lysbeth Reyniersdr. (1593-1675) married on 12 February 1617 in Spaarndam near Haarlem. Lysbeth was the daughter of Reynier Jans and Anna Thonis. She had been baptized on 23 January 1593 and died after 26 June 1675. As she was illiterate, she signed documents with a small cross. Eleven children from this second marriage by Hals are known by name, and for eight of them we have the dates of their baptisms, between 1617 and 1634. Daughter Sara was baptized on 21 February 1617, son Frans on 15 May 1618. On 13 December 1620 a nameless child from Hals's second marriage was buried. On 21 July 1623 daughter Adriaentje was baptized, on 12 December 1624 son Jacobus, on 11 February 1627 son Reynier, on 25 July 1628 son Nicolaes, on 12 November 1631 daughter Maria, and on 26 January 1634 daughter Susanna. The remaining sons Jan, Pieter and Anthony are mentioned in later documents. This sequence illustrates the fast-moving cycle of life at the time, as well as Hals’s increasing responsibility as the father of a family. He spent his entire life in rented accommodation with limited space and never bought a house. His known addresses are Peuzelaarsteeg (January 1617), Groot Heiligland (March 1636), Lange Bagijnestraat (May 1640), Kleine Houtstraat (September 1642), Oude Gracht (November 1643-November 1650), Ridderstraat (January 1654-May 1660). Pieter Biesboer marked these locations on the 1646 town map by Pieter Wils († c. 1647).⁴

Hals's involvement in Haarlem society is documented through his various memberships. From 1612 to 1625 he served in a company of the St George civic guard. Its officers commissioned his first major group portrait, which led to two further commissions from the same guard in 1626/1627 (A1.30) and 1639 (A2.12). Most likely, it also brought about the commission from the St Adrian civic guard, also in 1626/1627 (A2.8A) and 1632/1633 (A2.10). Since the higher ranks of the civic guard were sought-after honorary positions, Hals encountered members of wealthy and influential Haarlem families through the officers and sergeants he portrayed. His most important clients were to come from these families. His capturing of his sitters' individual emotions certainly suggests a relationship with open and animated conversation, even beyond social barriers. He remained in contact with at least two of his sitters: the merchant and envoy to Russia Isaac Abrahamsz. Massa (1586-1643) [29], and the VOC captain and merchant in oriental goods Pieter van den Broecke (1585-1640) [30]. These two cosmopolitan figures became godparents to Hals's daughters Adriaentgen in 1623 and Susanna in 1634.⁵ To hazard a conclusion, it was to Hals’s credit that two such daring and original personalities of high standing should feel drawn to him, across social divisions. This is despite the fact that the application to become godparents was made not solely ‘out of friendship […], but because of the generous baptismal gift, that could have been expected […]’.⁶ In addition, the portraits of these two personalities that Hals painted in 1634 and 1635 stand out for their association with portrait engravings accompanied by eulogistic inscriptions. Such mass distribution media were typically reserved for priests, scholars, calligraphers and artists, rather than wealthy merchants and brewers.

Later ambitious commissions from institutions were the group portraits of the regents of St Elisabeth’s Hospital in 1641 (A1.102) and the regents and regentesses of the Old Men's Almshouse c. 1663-1664 (A3.62) [31]. These commissions temporarily improved Hals's financial situation, as is demonstrated by the fact that on 22 January 1665 he was able to act as guarantor for the sum of 458 guilders and 11 stuivers for his son-in-law Abraham Hendricksz Hulst.⁷ Just how unusual such a fact was for the old painter can be seen from the long list of smaller and larger debtor's demands that were a constant feature in Hals's life from 1616 onwards. The worst of these struck Hals in 1654, when the baker Jan Ykesz. took possession of the contents of Hals's home and five pictures to cover an outstanding amount of 200 guilders for a loan, and bread purchases on credit. Hals's income in later years was so low that in 1661 the guild of St Luke's suspended his annual membership fee of six stuivers (one guilder equaled twenty stuivers) due to his advanced age. In response to a written request by Hals, the town of Haarlem granted him financial support on 9 September 1662, and he received an annual stipend of 200 guilders from 1663 until his death. In addition, in 1664 he twice received three wagon loads of peat and financial assistance with his rent.⁸

From 1616 to 1624 Hals was a beminnaer, or supporting member, of the chamber of rhetoric De Wijngaertrancken,⁹ giving him the opportunity of encountering humanistic and literary learning in poems and theatre plays, above and beyond what he may have been aware of from his apprenticeship. After all, designing and creating images was another form of ‘rhetoric’ at the time. While images were static and silent, they often referred to literature.

On the one hand Hals's membership in the guild of painters was a prerequisite for his profession as an independent master, on the other hand it permitted him to accept additional commissions such as restorations and valuations. In 1629 he received 24 guilders from the town of Haarlem for ‘het verlichten en veranderen’ of several paintings from the dissolved convent of St John, which were transferred to the Prinsenhof in 1625.¹⁰ There has been speculation whether these activities may have included treatment of the wings of the destroyed altar by Geertgen tot Sint Jans (c. 1465/1468-c. 1495) [32] that were kept there at the time.¹¹ In any case, Hals’s involvement with the convent’s works of art suggests that he must have been familiar with the group portrait in the middle of the composition – the earliest group portrait in European painting.

When a major lottery took place in 1641, Frans Hals was employed to value the prizes. On 27 May 1648 he had to act as joint arbitrator in a dispute regarding doubts about the authenticity of a painting by Adriaen Brouwer (1603/05-1638), together with Frans Pietersz. de Grebber and Cornelis Symonsz. van der Schalcke (1617-1671). The inventory of the estate of Conraet Coymans (1588-1659) states that on 24 April 1660 Pieter de Molijn (1595-1661) and Frans Hals undertook the valuation of the 29 paintings on the list. A valuation of five paintings is documented on 16 August 1662, done by Hals for the merchant Emanuel Demetrius. Together with De Molijn and Jan van de Velde II (1593-1641), Hals received the most bizarre commission for a valuation on 22 January 1629, when he was asked to provide a written report for the town of Haarlem on whether the prison cell of the painter Johannes Torrentius (c. 1588-1644) was suitable as a painter's workshop. Torrentius had been imprisoned for his membership in the banned brotherhood of Rosicrucians.¹²

It seems likely that Frans Hals also dealt in paintings as a sideline, as documented for many Dutch painters from Rembrandt to Vermeer, and specifically in Haarlem for Frans Pietersz. de Grebber, Jan Miense Molenaer (1609/10-1668), Pieter de Molijn and Allart van Everdingen (1621-1675). For example, Hals bought several paintings at an auction in 1629 that had been organized by the painters Frans Pietersz. de Grebber and Andries Snellinck (1587-1653). His brother Dirck acted as guarantor for his purchases. In 1634 Hals successfully bid on a painting by Hendrick Goltzius (1558-1617) in Amsterdam, which he could not pay for immediately. It remains unclear whether he ever received it.¹³

Two petitions in the painters' guild are known to have been supported by Hals. One concerned a collection of funds in 1638 to benefit the impoverished painter Polydanus, who was to receive a bed and bare necessities for being admitted to the Old Mens Almshouse. Another one dates from November 1642 and concerned a ‘recommendation to the mayor of Haarlem about the “entirely absurd and unfounded” application by the board of St Luke's Guild to restrict auctions of paintings’.¹⁴ Hals signed this missive together with Frans Pietersz. de Grebber, Cornelis van Kittensteyn (1597-1652), Salomon van Ruysdael (c. 1600/1603-1670), and Cornelis Hendriksz. Vroom (c. 1590/1592-1661). The problem was an oversupply of paintings that was to be restricted in the interest of the more affluent members of the guild. However, the painters who earned less were dependent on turnover that was as high as possible. Clearly, Hals belonged to the latter. His partisanship is also reason to believe that he received an indispensable part of his income from the sale of works for the open market. However, the petition argued that ‘liefhebbers’ would no longer be able to compete with the dealers driving up prices, and that new artists would not have an opportunity to sell.¹⁵

In 1635 and 1642, Hals was reminded to pay his overdue annual fee to the guild. This repeated lateness did not stand in the way of him being elected ‘vinder’, that is, board member of the Guild of St Luke, on 18 January 1644. Nevertheless, Frans Hals ‘was guild official for only one year. Most of his fellow painters, like Salomon de Bray, Hendrick Pot, Pieter de Molijn and Pieter Saenredam, served many terms as dean or warden’.¹⁶

Hals's production of pictures began in 1611 and can be traced until shortly before his death in 1666, spanning five and a half decades. The number and category of paintings that have been preserved varies per year: there are years without dated or datable pictures and others with one or two group pictures as well as a number of single portraits and genre scenes. Therefore, what has been preserved must only be a part of what Hals has created originally. In order to cover his and his family's living costs as well as material and rent for the house and the workshop – especially during the years when his family grew – Hals needed to generate a multiple of the 200 guilders annuity that he was to receive in his old age from the town of Haarlem beginning in late 1662. The only documented rental sum from Hals’s life can be found in the legal dispute between Hals and the widow of Willem Tas. In the court documents of 3 February 1640, payment for the month of May is mentioned as 66 guilders.¹⁷ It is not clear whether this was the current rent or a special agreement. Nevertheless, we can conclude that each month the painter needed a three figure sum of guilders at a minimum. How many pictures did he have to make and sell in order to reach this level?

27
circle of Willem Buytewech
Banquet in a park, c. 1608-1610
panel, oil paint, 65 x 87 cm
formerly Berlin, Kaiser-Friedrich-Museum, inv.no. 1691
cat.no. E2

28
Frans Pietersz. de Grebber
Portrait of Job Gijbland (1572- ), dated 1611
Haarlem, Frans Hals Museum, inv./cat.nr. OS 65-95

29
workshop of Frans Hals (I)
Portrait of Isaac Abrahamsz. Massa, c. 1635
panel, oil paint, 21.3 x 19.7 cm
center right: FH
San Diego Museum of Art, Gift of Anne R. and Amy Putnam, inv.no. 1946.74
cat.no. A4.1.11

30
Frans Hals (I)
Portrait of Pieter van den Broecke (1585-1640), 1633
Hampstead (Greater London), Kenwood The Iveagh Bequest, inv./cat.nr. 51 (88028830)
cat.no. A1.58
Source: Historic England Archive. Reuse not permitted

31
Frans Hals (I) and workshop
Regentesses of the Old Men’s Almshouse, c. 1663-1664
canvas, oil paint, 170.5 x 249.5 cm
Haarlem, Frans Hals Museum
cat.no. A3.63

32
Geertgen tot Sint Jans
The burning of the bones of John the Baptist at the order of Julian the Apostate, 1484 or later
Vienna, Kunsthistorisches Museum, inv./cat.nr. 993

A court meeting on 14 March 1634 dealt with the legal action brought by the baker Bouwen Fransz., to whom Hals owed 23 guilders, 17 stuivers and two pennies for delivered bread. Hals had given the baker a painting as security, that was to be returned to him after having been valued by Frans Pietersz. de Grebber and Claes Suycker (c. 1576/77-1636). This meant that the value of the picture exceeded the amount of debt. It is worth noting that the practice of valuing could be undertaken by any experienced colleague – as Hals did himself – and that the maker's achievement could be estimated in terms of standards of craftsmanship. Similar to the making of furniture, production expenses could be calculated and remained stable. In this context, a demand by the forester Heijndrick Heijndricksz. van Roy from Vianen becomes comprehensible. He sought to recover Harmen Hals's rental debt from his father, equaling 60 Carolus guilders and ‘one day's painting’. It seems likely that Frans Hals had acted as guarantor for his son in this case.¹⁸

The assessment of making paintings as a redeemable asset also formed the basis of lotteries. One is mentioned in a document dated 4 April 1634. Lot 13 of the draw is listed as a ‘Vanitas’ by Frans Hals valued at 34 guilders, lot 28 is the head of a horseman (‘een ruyter tronij’) for 16 guilders and lot 29 is another head (‘een tronij’) for the same amount.¹⁹ The ‘Vanitas’ may have been similar to the Young man with a skull [33]. The lottery price list had been compiled by Hals himself, his brother Dirck and a third painter. As Bredius' publication of documents relating to Cornelis Cornelisz van Leeuwen's lottery of 1626 in Delft demonstrates, valuations of the drawn objects were set in advance and, at least for the highest values, monitored by the guild of painters.²⁰ The speculative element was included in the matching of a lottery ticket with an object; values for the respective pictures were apparently regarded as stable – comparable to furniture or tableware.

On 12 May 1639 the painter Lucas Luce (c. 1575/76-1677) and the art dealer Hendrick Uylenburgh (c. 1587-1661) valued a small painting by Frans Hals in the estate of the widow of Cornelis Rutgers at 12 guilders. The same value was set on 25 April 1640 for a painting owned by the Amsterdam art dealer Johannes de Renialme (c. 1600-1657) that was described as ‘a tobacco smoker with a pitcher by Hals’ and which, considering this description, may also have been a picture by Frans Hals's brother Dirck. 17 years later, the same picture was valued at 18 guilders in the 1657 inventory of Renialme’s estate.²¹ It could have been either the painting that was last reported at an exhibition in Havana in 1957 [34], its smaller replica in Bayonne [35], or another no longer extant painting, that served as the example for both paintings, as well as for the print by Abraham Bloteling (1640-1690) [36].²²

On 24 March 1646, Cornelia Lemens from Amsterdam used a painting titled The Prodigal Son, valued at 48 guilders, to pay her rent. This apparently ambitious depiction may be identical with the painting currently owned by the Metropolitan Museum (A3.3), or could at least be imagined similar to this sizeable work with several figures. The estate of the Amsterdam hatter Blaeuw was documented in May 1648, listing a painting of a fool that was valued by the painter Johannes Jansz. Collaert (c. 1621/22- after 1678) at ten guilders. The inventory for Laurens Mauritsz. dated 18 January 1669 mentions a Lute player valued at 15 guilders. In Leiden, a 1650 inventory lists a picture by Frans Hals valued at the same sum. And again in Leiden, Cornelis van der Lucht covered a debt by selling a painting by Frans Hals on 2 November 1657 for five guilders.²³

Nine years after Hals's death, the Amsterdam art dealer Gerrit Uylenburgh (1625-1679) compiled an inventory of paintings in his ownership, including the values he attributed to them at the time. The list comprised 91 items, some of which combined several objects, and the grand total came to 13.276 guilders. The highest values were given to a ‘capital piece’ with an allegory of Peace by Rubens, at 650 guilders, followed by a large ‘capital’ still life by ‘Maltese’²⁴ and an ‘excellent piece with singers’ by Caspar Netscher (c. 1636-1684), each valued at 500 guilders. The bottom rank of the pictures valued with an artist's name was given to portraits, including one by Willem Key for 25 guilders and others by ‘Bordon’, ‘Pordenon’ and ‘Georgon’ at 30 guilders each.²⁵ The same meagre value was given to Frans Hals's painting of a fool also referred to as Peeckelhaering (possibly A1.50 or A1.51). While there is no way to verify the other attributions, a comparison can be made with the depiction of a peasant's wife by Cornelis Bega (c. 1631/1632-1664) listed in the same context, since Bega typically painted small and medium size pictures. It was valued at 54 guilders, far exceeding the value of Hals's picture.²⁶

There is now a whole body of literature about prices, attributions and valuations of paintings in the 17th century. The review of estate inventories, auction catalogues and lottery lists in Netherlandish towns has generated surprisingly consistent value profiles for different genres and artists. A nice example is offered by the set of tables with prices for various picture genres, subject matter and artists, that was published by Alan Chong in 1987.²⁷ However, less is known about the production costs for portraits, which were directly tied to an individual and had only limited resale value. Just a single figure has been preserved in connection to a portrait commission for Hals, concerning the sum of 60 guilders paid by the Amsterdam civic guardsmen in 1633 (A2.11), plus a promised future payment of six guilders per person.²⁸ This payment however, referred to a portrait in full-length and was set in connection with a contract involving additional costs, due to the location in a neighboring town. Hals receiving the commission was a great honor, since such commissions were usually restricted to local painters, or in the case of Amsterdam, painters based in the actual district. Hals's successful younger competitor in Amsterdam, Johannes Cornelisz. Verspronck (1601/03-1662), also received 60 guilders in 1658 for his portrait of the priest Augustinus Bloemaert (1585-1659), as a three quarter figure seated with both hands visible [37]. Indeed, this is also the only document for Verspronck's commission prices.²⁹

In the meantime, a second price has been found for Hals's portraits. Research into the architectural history of the Hofje van Heythuysen, a residential building for people in need, produced a receipt ‘to Frans Hals for a portrait of Heythuysen’ for 36 guilders. The amount was paid in 1653 for the portrait in the hofje's Regents' room (A3.24). The complex had been erected after Heythuysen's death in 1650 with funds bequeathed from his estate. The executors must have supplied the original picture from Heythuysen's private home for Hals's workshop in order to create a copy. This picture was bought from the hofje by the Brussels Royal Museum of Fine Arts of Belgium in 1870. For a long time it was considered to be the original, but there are weaknesses in the detail compared to the earlier model. As in most cases of such replicas, it was therefore not executed by Hals himself but rather by an assistant in his workshop. Under the prevailing circumstances this would not necessarily have meant a reduction in price.³⁰

33
Frans Hals (I)
Young man holding a skull (Vanitas), c. 1626
London (England), National Gallery (London), inv./cat.nr. NG6458
cat.no. A1.4

34
circle of Frans Hals (I)
Merry man holding a pewter jug and a pipe, c. 1638-1640
Private collection
cat.no. B11

35
circle of Frans Hals (I)
Merry man holding a pewter jug and a pipe, c. 1638-1640
Bayonne (France), Musée Bonnat
cat.no. B11a

36
Abraham Bloteling
Merry drinker holding a pewter jug and a pipe
Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum, inv./cat.nr. RP-P-1883-A-6808
cat.no. C44

37
Johannes Cornelisz. Verspronck
Portrait of Augustinus Alstenius Bloemert (1585-1659), 1658 (dated)
Haarlem, Stichting Fondsen Blommert en Dreeger

Nevertheless, the sporadic documentation in correspondence and legal proceedings provides a consistent picture. Accordingly, it is possible to give average costs, as Rudi Ekkart did in his article on the painting practice of the 17th-century’s portraitist in the exhibition catalogue Dutch portraits of 2007-2008. The following estimates could be established for:

• A painted portrait as a life-size bust: 36 to 40 guilders;
• A painted portrait as life-size half-figure: 60 guilders;
• A painted portrait as a life-size three-quarter figure: 80 guilders;
• A painted portrait as a life-size full figure: 100 to 150 guilders, probably depending on the extent of accessories;
• Replicas of existing portraits: 50-75% of the price.³¹

Assuming average prices for Hals's portraits at around 60 guilders, corresponding to the payment he received for the full figures for the Meagre company (A2.11), this estimate is likely to be at the top end, since the majority of his portraits were busts or half-length figures. In accordance with Ekkart's list, Hals should have received at least 50 guilders for the first version of the Heythuysen portrait (A3.22). Based on the assumption that Hals's portrait commissions should have yielded at least half of his absolutely necessary income, his workshop would have needed to deliver quite a few more than 12 portraits per year. In addition, there should have been a substantial number of genre paintings created for the open market. Such a calculation arrives at no less than three times today's preserved pictures, and the number could be much higher indeed. Such a high rate of loss would be supported by documentation, where paintings by Frans Hals can only be identified with a small part of today's existing works – even allowing for vague descriptions to match titles of today.

Pictures by Hals that can no longer be identified include two portraits of the artist and Hals’s pupil Judith Leyster (1609-1660), but also the Five senses as a group of three small pictures that was listed in the inventory of Dirck Thomasz Molengraeft in Amsterdam, drawn up on 13 January 1654, and subsequently with the same description in the inventory of Willem Schrijver of 26 October 1661. There were also two portraits of Nicolaes de Kemp's grandparents, which he received on 6 November 1656 from his relatives. As their frames had been painted by Willem Buytewech, who was in Haarlem between 1612 and 1617, these must have been early works by Hals. A Gathering of Courtesans and young women by Frans Hals is listed in the inventory of the Amsterdam cloth merchant Paulus de Witte of 2 October 1660, that cannot be matched with any surviving work. The same is true for the Bordeeltje in the inventory of the pawnbroker Tartarolis in Leiden, dated 7 December 1656. ³² The only conceivable bordello scenes might be the Young man and woman in an inn (A3.3) or the Smoker [38].

Also the pair of portraits of Anthonie van Halewijn and his wife, listed his estate inventory on 4 June 1665 as by ‘meester Hals’, remain unidentifiable. Two of three portrait paintings from the Soop family listed in an Amsterdam inventory dated 26 October 1661 have recently been plausibly identified (A1.83, A1.95),³³ while this has not yet been possible for the portrait Pieter Soop mentioned in that same inventory. The identification of ‘een vanitasken’ by Frans Hals, in an ebony frame, listed on 5 February 1636 in the inventory of the painter Pieter Codde, also remains unsuccessful. ³⁴ The inventory was drawn up in the course of Codde's divorce, and his ownership indicates his appreciation of Hals's work immediately prior to Codde being commissioned to finish the Meagre company (A2.11).

Other examples are nine paintings by Frans Hals listed in the inventory of the marine painter Jan van de Cappelle (1626-1679) in 1680.³⁵ Neither Hals's portrait of Van de Cappelle, nor that of his wife, nor that of a Rommelpot player could be identified so far. Two life-size portraits by Frans Hals of Nicolaas van der Gon and his wife Cornelia van der Schaep that were probably painted in 1651 or shortly thereafter could also not be identified, nor can three more portraits of relatives from the same family that were painted by Jan Hals. In 1661, the inventory of Willem van Campen, Regent of the Amsterdam orphanage, lists his portrait by Hals. It is not identifiable. Contemporary reports mention a portrait by Hals of the preacher Jan Ruyll, also unidentified so far.³⁶

Later sources list several additional sitters that cannot be matched with existing portraits today, for example that of the Haarlem painter Leendert van der Cooghen (1632-1681) in a sale catalogue of 1708,³⁷ or of the Brussels painter David Teniers II (1610-1690) in an exhibition catalogue of 1878.³⁸ On 20 April 1779 a Denial of St Peter attributed to Frans Hals was sold at auction in The Hague for 17 guilders, and on 20 March 1854 a Magdalen was auctioned in Antwerp.³⁹ With the distance in time increasing to the period of origin, the attributions of these last two paintings are certainly questionable. But even if they are indeed wrongly attributed, we must keep in mind that Hals’s production was possibly more varied and comprised a lot more than we are able to imagine on the basis of what has been preserved. Today, the existing body of work created by Hals consists of just under 200 paintings that are either fully or partly autograph. In addition, there is a group of another c. 200 works created in the artist’s workshop, including replicas that were presumably also executed in Hals’s workshop. If we attribute only one autograph painting per month to the master himself, over an active period of 50 years, we would already be calculating three times the surviving oeuvre.

38
Frans Hals (I) and workshop
The smoker, c. 1623
panel, oil paint, 46.7 x 49.5 cm
New York, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, inv.no. 89.15.34
cat.no. A3.2