Portrait of a Young Man

1646/1648

Frans Hals

Artist, Dutch, c. 1582/1583 - 1666

Shown from the chest up, a young man with a plump, pale-skinned face hooks one elbow over the back of a wooden chair and looks at us in this vertical portrait painting. The man’s body faces our right as he turns his head over his right shoulder, closer to us, to gaze out with brown eyes under lifted brows. His nose ends with a round bump, and his round cheeks are flushed. He has a wispy mustache over full pink lips, which are parted. He wears a tall-crowned, brimmed black hat over a cloud of wavy, shoulder-length black hair. A lace-edged white collar spreads over an ink-black, satin coat. His right elbow is planted across the back of the chair, which has carved finials to either side. That hand is closed in a fist, which may hold something. The man’s hat casts a shadow on the right side of the taupe-gray wall behind him, where the artist has signed the painting with two monograms of his initials, “HF.” The brushwork is loose throughout, especially so in the man’s clothing.

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Frans Hals was the preeminent portrait painter in Haarlem, the most important artistic center of Holland in the early part of the seventeenth century. He was famous for his uncanny ability to portray his subjects with relatively few bold brushstrokes, and often used informal poses to enliven his portraits.

Glancing straight at the viewer, this portly gentleman rests his elbow on the back of his chair. Hals’ earliest known use of this pose dates to 1626, and he continued to use it throughout his career. (See, for example, the National Gallery of Art’s portrait of Willem Coymans, 1645.) As is characteristic of Hals, the sitter’s face is more firmly modeled and detailed than are his costume and accessories, which are rendered in broader, more abstract brushstrokes. Hals has made the man’s face come to life by adding rapidly applied accents over the broad flesh tones. A few wavy strokes depict the lion’s-head finial of the chair, and an emphatic crisscross pattern describes the man’s flat lace collar.

Just above the sitter’s hand, Hals signed the work with his initials—not just once, but twice: FHFH. Multiple interpretations have been proposed for this unique double monogram, including the possibility that Hals here portrayed his son Frans Hals the Younger (1618–1669).[1] Although Hals’ son would have been the appropriate age for this portrait, no other supporting evidence for this identification exists, so the identity of the sitter and the reason for the double monogram remain mysteries.

　

[1] Petr Petrovich Semenoff, Études sur l’histoire de la peinture néerlandaise, 2 vols. (Saint Petersburg, 1885), 1:254, and Andrei Ivanovich Somof, Ermitage Impérial: Catalogue de la galerie des tableaux, 3rd ed., 2 vols. (Saint Petersburg, 1901), 2:139–140, no. 770.

On View

West Building Main Floor, Gallery 46

Artwork overview

  • Medium

    oil on canvas

  • Credit Line

    Andrew W. Mellon Collection

  • Dimensions

    overall: 68 x 55.4 cm (26 3/4 x 21 13/16 in.)
    framed: 103.2 x 91.4 x 14.6 cm (40 5/8 x 36 x 5 3/4 in.)

  • Accession

    1937.1.71

More About this Artwork

Scholarly Article:  Dutch Paintings of the Seventeenth Century: Portrait of a Young Man, 1646/1648

This horizontal painting shows a group of eight light-skinned musicians and onlookers gathered closely around a rectangular, carpet-covered table. The front edge of the table runs parallel to the bottom edge of the painting, and seems close to us. Shown from about the waist up, the men and women’s vivid lapis-blue, coral-red, buttercup-yellow, lilac-purple, and moss-green garments fall in crisp folds. Bright reflections on the fabric suggest a satin-like material. Two women wear feathers in their hair and one man’s hat is plumed. One man, wearing crimson red and black, sits with his back to us to our left on the near side of the table. He holds the neck of a bass viol, about the size of a cello, with his left hand, and points to pages of an open music book with the bow in his right hand. The other people cluster on the far side of the table. A man to the left plays a violin; a woman at the center plays a guitar-sized bandora, and a woman to our right plays a lute. The musicians, along with a man who leans over the table from between the two women, look down at the music books. A young man behind the woman at the center holds up a glass of pale liquid with his right hand as he touches his left forefinger to his smiling lips. A man and woman stand close together in the background to our right, in the top right corner of the canvas.

Scholarly Series:  Dutch Paintings of the Seventeenth Century

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

Sir Robert Walpole, 1st earl of Orford [1676-1745], Houghton Hall, Norfolk, by 1736;[1] by inheritance to his son, Robert Walpole, 2nd earl of Orford [1700-1751], Houghton Hall; by inheritance to his son, George Walpole, 3rd earl of Orford [1730-1791], Houghton Hall; sold 1779 through Count Aleksei Semonovich Musin-Pushkin, Russian ambassador to England, to Catherine II, empress of Russia [1729-1796], Saint Petersburg; Imperial Hermitage Gallery, Saint Petersburg; sold February 1931 through (Matthiesen Gallery, Berlin; P. & D. Colnaghi & Co., London; and M. Knoedler & Co., New York) to Andrew W. Mellon, Pittsburgh and Washington, D.C.; deeded 1 May 1937 to The A.W. Mellon Educational and Charitable Trust, Pittsburgh; gift 1937 to NGA.
[1] Horace Walpole, "A Catalogue of the Right Honble. Sir Robert Walpole’s Collection of Pictures," 1736, autograph manuscript unsigned, pp. 33-34, PML 7586, The Morgan Library and Museum, New York.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1996

  • Houghton Hall: The Prime Minister, The Empress and The Heritage, Castle Museum Norwich; Kenwood House, London, 1996-1997, no. 12, repro., as Portrait of a Seated Man.

2013

  • Houghton Revisited: The Walpole Masterpieces from Catherine the Great's Hermitage, Houghton Hall, King's Lynn, 2013, no. 12, repro.

2014

  • Houghton Hall: Portrait of an English Country House, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; California Palace of the Legion of Honor, The Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco; Frist Center for the Visual Arts, Nashville, 2014-2015, not in catalogue.

Bibliography

1736

  • Walpole, Horace.A Catalogue of the Right Honorable Sir Robert Walpole’s Collection of Pictures. Unsigned autograph manuscript. Pierpont Morgan Library. The Morgan Library and Museum, PML 7586. New York, 1736: 33-34.

1747

  • Walpole, Horace. Aedes Walpolianae or A Description of the Collection of Pictures at Houghton Hall in Norfolk. London, 1747: 40.

1809

  • Gilpin, William. Observations on Several Parts of the Counties of Cambridge, Norfolk, Suffolk, and Essex. London, 1809: 69.

1838

  • Imperial Hermitage Museum. Livret de la Galérie Impériale de l’Ermitage de Saint Petersbourg. Saint Petersburg, 1838: 254, no. 26, as Self-Portrait.

1863

  • Köhne, Baron Bernhard de. Ermitage Impérial, Catalogue de la Galérie des Tableaux. Saint Petersburg, 1863: 165, no. 770, as Portrait of Frans Hals.

1864

  • Waagen, Gustav Friedrich. Die Gemäldesammlung in her kaiserlichen Ermitage zu St. Petersburg nebst Bemerkungen über andere dortige Kunstsammlungen. Munich, 1864: 172, no. 770.

1870

  • Köhne, Baron Bernhard de. Ermitage Impérial: Catalogue de la Galérie des Tableaux. 3 vols. 2nd ed. Saint Petersburg, 1870: 2:123, no. 770.

1883

  • Bode, Wilhelm von. Studien zur Geschichte der holländischen Malerei. Braunschweig, 1883: 90, 101, no. 128.

1885

  • Semenoff, Petr Petrovich. Études sur l’histoire de la peinture néerlandaise. 2 vols. Saint Petersburg, 1885: 1:254, as Portrait of Frans Hals the Younger.

1895

  • Somov, Andrei Ivanovich. Ermitage Impérial: Catalogue de la Galérie des Tableaux. 2 vols. 3rd ed. Saint Petersburg, 1895: 2:122-123, no. 770, repro.

1896

  • Knackfuss, Hermann. Frans Hals. Bielefeld and Leipzig, 1896: 52, repro.

1901

  • Somov, Andrei Ivanovich. Ermitage Impérial: Catalogue de la Galérie des Tableaux. 2 vols. 4th ed. Saint Petersburg, 1901: 2:139-140, no. 770, repro.

1902

  • Davies, Gerald S. Frans Hals. London, 1902: 144, no. 770.

1907

  • Hofstede de Groot, Cornelis. A Catalogue Raisonné of the Works of the Most Eminent Dutch Painters of the Seventeenth Century. 8 vols. Translated by Edward G. Hawke. London, 1907-1927: 3(1910):88.

1908

  • Davies, Gerald S. Frans Hals. Reprint. London, 1908: 139, no. 770.

1909

  • Moes, Ernst Wilhelm. Frans Hals: sa vie et son oeuvre. Translated by J. de Bosschere. Brussels, 1909: 108, no. 180 or 182.

  • Wrangell, Baron Nicolas. Les Chefs-d’Oeuvre de la Galérie de Tableaux de l’Ermitage Impérial à St. Pétersbourg. London, 1909: 145, repro.

1912

  • Péladan, Joséphin. Frans Hals 1580(?)-1666. Paris, 1912: 89-90, repro. opposite 162.

1914

  • Bode, Wilhelm von, and Moritz Julius Binder. Frans Hals: Sein Leben und seine Werke. 2 vols. Berlin, 1914: 2:62, no. 213, pl. 136.

  • Bode, Wilhelm von, and Moritz Julius Binder. Frans Hals: His Life and Work. 2 vols. Translated by Maurice W. Brockwell. Berlin, 1914: 2:15, no. 213, pl. 136.

1918

  • Wrangell, Baron Nicolas. Die Meisterwerke der Gemälde-Galerie in der Ermitage zu St. Petersburg. Edited by Georg Korczewski. 2nd ed. Munich, 1918: 145, repro.

1921

  • Valentiner, Wilhelm R. Frans Hals: des meisters Gemälde in 318 Abbildungen. Klassiker der Kunst in Gesamtausgaben 28. Stuttgart and Berlin, 1921: 320, no. 219, repro.

1923

  • Knackfuss, Hermann. Frans Hals. Reprint. Bielefeld, 1923: 61, 64, repro.

  • Valentiner, Wilhelm R. Frans Hals: des Meisters Gemälde in 322 Abbildungen. Klassiker der Kunst in Gesamtausgaben 28. 2nd ed. Stuttgart, Berlin, and Leipzig, 1923: 320, 234, repro.

  • Weiner, Peter Paul von. Meisterwerke der Gemäldesammlung in der Eremitage zu Petrograd. Revised ed. Munich, 1923: 117, repro.

1930

  • Dülberg, Franz. Frans Hals: Ein Leben und ein Werk. Stuttgart, 1930: 186.

1936

  • Valentiner, Wilhelm R. Frans Hals Paintings in America. Westport, Connecticut, 1936: no. 91, repro.

1941

  • Trivas, Numa S. The Paintings of Frans Hals. New York, 1941: 55, no. 92, repro. no. 123.

  • National Gallery of Art. Preliminary Catalogue of Paintings and Sculpture. Washington, 1941: 95-96, no. 71.

1942

  • National Gallery of Art. Book of illustrations. 2nd ed. Washington, 1942: 71, repro. 24, 240.

1946

  • Gratama, Gerrit David. Frans Hals. The Hague, 1946: 98, repro.

1949

  • National Gallery of Art. Paintings and Sculpture from the Mellon Collection. Washington, 1949 (reprinted 1953 and 1958): 78, repro.

1963

  • Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. New York, 1963 (reprinted 1964 in French, German, and Spanish): 1963, 311, repro.

1965

  • National Gallery of Art. Summary Catalogue of European Paintings and Sculpture. Washington, 1965: 65.

1968

  • National Gallery of Art. European Paintings and Sculpture, Illustrations. Washington, 1968: 58, repro.

1970

  • Slive, Seymour. Frans Hals. 3 vols. National Gallery of Art Kress Foundation Studies in the History of European Art. London, 1970–1974: 1(1970):52, 160-161, 193; 2(1970):fig. 256; 3(1974):86-87, fig. 60 (monogram).

1972

  • Grimm, Claus. Frans Hals: Entwicklung, Werkanalyse, Gesamtkatolog. Berlin, 1972: 107, 205, no. 134, fig. 150.

1974

  • Montagni, E.C. L’opera completa di Frans Hals. Classici dell’Arte. Milan, 1974: 105, no. 171, repro.

1975

  • National Gallery of Art. European paintings: An Illustrated Summary Catalogue. Washington, 1975: 170, repro.

  • Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington. New York, 1975: 268, no. 352, repro.

1976

  • Gerson, Horst. "The Frans Hals Catalogue." The Burlington Magazine 118 (June 1976): 422-424.

  • Montagni, E.C. Tout l'oeuvre peint de Frans Hals. Translated by Simone Darses. Les classiques de l'art. Paris, 1976: no. 171, repro.

1981

  • Wheelock, Arthur K., Jr. Jan Vermeer. New York, 1981: 14-15, fig. 6.

1984

  • Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington. Rev. ed. New York, 1984: 268, no. 346, color repro.

1985

  • National Gallery of Art. European Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. Washington, 1985: 197, repro.

  • Jackson-Stops, Gervase. The Treasure Houses of Britain: Five Hundred Years of Private Patronage and Art Collecting. Exh. cat. National Gallery of Art, Washington. New Haven, 1985: 324.

1988

  • Wheelock, Arthur K., Jr. Jan Vermeer. Masters of Art. 2nd rev. ed. New York, 1988: 100, fig. 6.

1990

  • Grimm, Claus. Frans Hals: The Complete Work. Translated by Jürgen Riehle. New York, 1990: 241-242, 257, fig. 105a, 288, no. 129, repro.

  • Broos, Ben P. J., ed. Great Dutch Paintings from America. Exh. cat. Royal Picture Gallery Mauritshuis, The Hague; Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco.The Hague and Zwolle, 1990: 391.

1991

  • Kopper, Philip. America's National Gallery of Art: A Gift to the Nation. New York, 1991: 93, color repro.

1995

  • Wheelock, Arthur K., Jr. Dutch Paintings of the Seventeenth Century. The Collections of the National Gallery of Art Systematic Catalogue. Washington, 1995: 83-85, color repro. 84.

  • Wheelock, Arthur K., Jr. Vermeer and the Art of Painting. New Haven, 1995: 123, fig. 86.

1996

  • Moore, Andrew W. Houghton Hall: the Prime Minister, the Empress and the Heritage. Exh. cat. Norwich Castle Museum; Iveagh Bequest, Kenwood. London, 1996: 95, fig. 12, repro.

2000

  • Il'in, Nikolas, and Natalia Semënova. Prodannye sokrovishcha Rossii [Sold Treasures of Russia]. Moscow, 2000: 157, repro.

2002

  • Moore, Andrew, and Larissa Dukelskaya. A Capital Collection: Houghton Hall and The Hermitage. Exh. cat. Somerset House, London. New Haven and London, 2002: 249, repro.

2003

  • Moore, Andrew. "Sir Robert Walpole: A Prime Minister Collects Dutch and Flemish Art." In Dutch and Flemish artists in Britain, 1550-1800. Edited by Juliette Roding. Leids Kunsthistorisch Jaarboek 13. Leiden, 2003: 293-294, repro.

2009

  • Odom, Anne, and Wendy R. Salmond, eds. Treasures into Tractors: The Selling of Russia's Cultural Heritage, 1918-1938. Washington, D.C., 2009: repro. xii, 90, 103 n. 45, 135 n. 62.

2011

  • Fiedler, Susanne, and Torsten Knuth. "Vexierbilder einer Biographie: Dr. Heinz Mansfeld (1899-1959)." Mecklenburgische Jahrbücher 126 (2011):307.

2013

  • Semyonova, Natalya, and Nicolas V. Iljine, eds. Selling Russia's Treasures: The Soviet Trade in Nationalized Art 1917-1938. New York and London, 2013: 138, 182, repro.

2016

  • Jaques, Susan. The Empress of Art: Catherine the Great and the Transformation of Russia. New York, 2016: 397.

Inscriptions

center right with double monogram: FHFH

Wikidata ID

Q18010010

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