RKD STUDIES

Watercolor, pencil, and pen in black ink on paper, 344 x 481 mm, signed in verso: F: Hals Pinxit / W: Hendriks Fecit
Haarlem, Teylers Museum, inv.no. W 043

Wybrand Hendriks (1774-1831) made several copies after paintings by Frans Hals, often in watercolour. Although most of these at a first glance appear to be exact copies after Hals, Leslie Schwartz has pointed out that the artist often chose to ‘enhance and beautify’ the examples.² In this copy of Hals's Banquet of the officers of the Calivermen civic guard [1], Hendriks has used notably lighter colours and has applied less shadowing, giving his drawing a softer appearance in comparison to Hals’s painting. Most likely this and the other copies by Hendriks are documents of the formerly lighter appearance of the painted examples, before some pigments faded, lead white became transparent, and greens turned brown.

D11

Pen in grey and black and pencil on paper, 137 x 259 mm
Haarlem, Teylers Museum, inv.no. W 043a

The exact function of the identification sheets that Wybrand Hendriks (1774-1831) made on the basis of Hals's civic guard paintings, is unclear. According to Schwartz, Hendriks made this particular sheet after his watercolour copy (D11) and not before, meaning the sheet could not have served as a guide for the composition of the copy.³

D12

Watercolor on paper, 399 x 537 mm
Haarlem, Teylers Museum, inv.no. W 041

Copy of the Banquet of the officers of the St. George civic guard from c. 1626-1627 [2].

D13

Watercolor on paper, 277 x 392 mm
Haarlem, Teylers Museum, inv.no. W 042
Copy of the Banquet of the officers of the St. George civic guard from c. 1626-1627 [2].

D14

Pencil and pen in black and grey on paper, 124 x 196 mm
Haarlem, Teylers Museum, inv.no. W 042a

Drawing, identifying the sitters of the Banquet of the officers of the St. George civic guard from c. 1626-1627 [2].

D15

Watercolor and pen in grey on paper, 333 x 514 mm, signed in verso: Fr. Hals Pinxit / W: Hendriks. Fecit
Haarlem, Teylers Museum, inv.no. W 044

This watercolour copy by Wybrand Hendriks (1744-1831) shows evidence of a fenced background in Hals's original group portrait of the civic guard company [3], that has largely disappeared from sight due to the darkening of pigments.⁸ The differentiated design of the trees and foliage in the background of the painting can nowadays be made visible under strong lighting and when manipulating the photograph on the computer. Thus, Schwartz’s previous suspicion that Hendriks invented the background in his drawing himself as an 'improvement’ to Hals's heavily shadowed and darkened composition, can no longer be maintained.⁹ In fact, Hendriks’s background appears to be a relatively detailed imitation of the background in the painted example by Hals. In addition, Hendriks’s drawing displays numerous details of the costumes, especially the woven patterns of the black fabrics which have darkened in the painting.

D16

Pencil and pen in grey on paper, 134 x 285 mm
Haarlem, Teylers Museum, inv.no. W 044a

Drawing, identifying the sitters of the Meeting of the officers and sergeants of the Calivermen civic guard [3].

D17

Watercolor on paper, 285 x 218 mm
Leiden, University Library – Special Collections, inv.no. PK-T-300

Partial copy of the central standing figure from Hals’s Meeting of the officers and sergeants of the Calivermen civic guard [3], positioned in an abstract landscape setting.

D18

Watercolor on paper, 285 x 218 mm
Leiden, University Library – Special Collections, inv.no. PK-T-301

Partial, reversed copy of the standing figure at the right-hand side in Hals’s Meeting of the officers and sergeants of the Calivermen civic guard [3], positioned in an abstract landscape setting.

D19

Pen in black and brush in grey, 180 x 260 mm, inscription lower left: W: Hendriks ad vivum Delineavit
Haarlem, Noord-Hollands Archief, inv.no. NL-HlmNHA_53002294

Wybrand Hendriks (744-1831) has drawn this scene at least three times. On the back wall on the left he depicted Frans Hals’s Meeting of the officers and sergeants of the Calivermen civic guard of 1632-1633 [3], as it hung on the wall of the Oude Doelen in Haarlem. On the right hand side hangs the 1642 Officers and sub-alterns of the Calivermen civic guard by Pieter Soutman (c. 1593/1601-1657) [4]. This drawing, its variants and the engraving are the only visual documents of the original hanging of one of Hals’s civic guard paintings. The inscription in the lower left corner of the present drawing indicates that Hendriks drew this scene after life, whilst he was present at the event depicted. As such it is his first version of the composition, which he later on repeated.

D20

Watercolor on paper, 215 x 395 mm
Haarlem, Noord-Hollands Archief, inv.no. NL-HlmNHA_53002295_M

D21

Pen and brush in black and brush in grey, 254 x 373 mm
Haarlem, Noord-Hollands Archief, inv.no. NL-HlmNHA_53002296_M

D22

Engraving, 327 x 419 mm
Haarlem, Teylers Museum, inv.no. KG 07720

D23