RKD STUDIES

Pencil, black chalk and grey brush on paper, 304 x 266 mm
Frankfurt am Main, Städel Museum, inv.no. 24906

Copy after the Portrait of a woman in the Saint Louis Art Museum [1].

D57

Black chalk and pen in brown on paper, 182 x 179 mm, signed and dated lower right: ... BERgh / 1655 ... Dan/van Ak..n
Rotterdam, Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, inv.no. MJvdB 1 (PK)

The drawing renders the original larger size of the painted Portrait of Daniel van Aken [2] and includes a curtain depicted behind the sitter. The identity of the man could be identified because of the inscription on the drawing.

D58
Photo: Studio Tromp

Black chalk on parchment, 218 x 182 mm
Private collection

This drawing depicts the seated position which Hals used in a slightly different turn in several paintings, such as for instance the Portrait of Isaac Abrahamsz. Massa, dated 1626 (A2.7), and the Portrait of Willem Coymans, dated 1645 (A1.114). The man’s position is also close to that of Pieter Dircksz. Tjarck in his portrait now in the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (A1.80).

D59

Pen in black on paper, 157 x 131 mm, signed lower right: PHolsteyn. fe
Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum, inv.no. RP-T-1893-A-2776

This pen drawing by Pieter Holsteyn (c. 1614-1673) depicts the painting by Hals [3] in its appearance before 1673, without its original hat, but also without the long wavy locks of hair falling over the collar, which were added after 1673. This proves that the painting was altered twice – already during Holsteyn’s lifetime and again sometime after his decease. After thorough technical examination, the painting was given back its original appearance in 1991.

D60

Black and white chalk on blue paper, 179 x 167 mm
Berlin, Kupferstichkabinett der Staatlichen Museen zu Berlin, inv.no. KdZ 2505

This drawing is probably based on the no longer extant self-portrait by Hals of c. 1648-1650, or on one of the painted copies after it (B17).

D61
Photo: Walter Steinkopf

Pen and brush in grey and black on paper, 288 x 211 mm, signed and dated in verso: D Heemskerk 1745
Haarlem, Teylers Museum, inv.no. KT 2733

This pen and brush drawing by the amateur-draughtsman David Heemskerk (1725-1794) is one of the many existing copies of Hals's lost self-portrait (B17).

D62

Black chalk, heightened in white, brush and framing line in grey, 335 x 428 mm
Haarlem, Noord-Hollands Archief, inv.no. NL-HlmNHA_53013510

Cornelis van Noorde's (1731-1795) drawings that are based on works by Hals, are often partial copies after larger group portraits, such as the Regents of St Elisabeth’s Hospital (A1.102), or, in this case, the Officers and sergeants of the St George civic guard of 1639 [4]. The present drawing is a partial copy of the heads of Frans Hals and Jacob Druyvesteyn († 1692).

D63

Black chalk, brush and wash in grey on paper, 354 x 270 mm
Haarlem, Noord-Hollands Archief, inv.no. NL-HlmNHA_1100_49853

This partial copy depicts Abraham Cornelisz. van der Schalcken (1582-1642), who was sergeant of the St George civic guard in the period 1636-1639. In the group portrait, his portrait is situated in the upper row, second from the right [4].

D64

Pen, brush and washed in grey on paper, 329 x 270 mm, signed and dated lower right: C.V.Noorde inv. 1754.
Haarlem, Noord-Hollands Archief, inv.no. NL-HlmNHA_1100_49260

This small sheet was executed in 1754 by Cornelis van Noorde (1731-1795), a painter and engraver from Haarlem, on the basis of the lost self-portrait by Frans Hals (B17). The drawing depicts the ‘apotheosis’, that is the elevation of Frans Hals into a higher (godlike) sphere. It expresses the appreciation of Hals as a representative of the ‘great’ i.e. academic ‘Art’, instead of praising him as a master in the creation of mere portraits. The classically formulated allegory shows the meeting of two worlds: the profane subject of the portrait, which is more pictorial than inventive; and the figures in antique style, bearing allegorical attributes. A putto holds up the coat-of-arms of the city of Haarlem, whilst at the feet of another lie a palette, mahlstick and brush. Together, they carry the bust portrait of the master, which is inscribed ‘Ipse pinxit’. Fama – the angelic genius of history – is hovering over them with a trumpet at her mouth, holding a laurel wreath over Hals’s portrait.

In the mid-18th century, the Academic or Classicist manner carried rhetorical qualities and was designed to instruct. In this case, the classical style was employed to instruct on the art of portraiture: a type of painting that was considered a rhetorical non-event as it only depicted figures as they appeared in real life. This basic assumption on the status of portraiture and the primacy of history painting in the hierarchy of the artistic genres and the academic tradition, persisted well into the 19th century.

D65

Pencil, brush and washed in black and grey on parchment, 369 x 290 mm
Haarlem, Noord-Hollands Archief, inv.no. NL-HlmNHA_1100_49821

It was most likely this drawn copy after the original painting by Hals [5] which was offered in the 1786 auction of the collection of Johannes Enschedé (1708-1780) as ‘The Portrait of Jonker Ramp and his Sweetheart, beautifully drawn in the manner of C. Visser by Cornelis van Noorde, after the painting by Frans Hals’.¹

D66

Watercolor, brush in black, grey and brown, brush in color and grey wash on paper, 355 x 278 mm
Haarlem, Noord-Hollands Archief, inv.no. NL-HlmNHA_53014071_M

Although this drawing has traditionally been attributed to Cornelis van Noorde (1731-1795), the rather naïve quality suggests this attribution should probably be rejected.

D67