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Arthur K. Wheelock Jr., “Frans Hals/Portrait of an Elderly Lady/1633,” Dutch Paintings of the Seventeenth Century, NGA Online Editions, https://purl.org/nga/collection/artobject/74 (accessed September 28, 2021).

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Overview

The strength and vitality of the people who helped establish the new Dutch Republic are nowhere better captured than in the work of Frans Hals, who was the preeminent portrait painter in Haarlem, the most important artistic center of Holland in the early part of the seventeenth century. This unidentified sitter—one of Hals’ most impressive portraits—was sixty years old when the painting was made, according to the artist’s inscription. Hals conveys her strong personality through the twinkle in her eyes, the smile on her lips, the firm grip of her hand on the chair, and the boldness of her silhouette against the light gray-brown background. The small Bible or prayer book she holds implies a pious character, and her clothing is conservative for the period. The velvet-trimmed brocade jacket, satin skirt, and lace cuffs and cap are nonetheless of the highest quality and remind us that Haarlem’s wealth derived from the processing of and trade in textiles. The woman’s elaborate linen ruff collar, starched and supported by concealed wires, was gradually going out of style at this time.

Hals’ portraits were often commissioned as pendants in which a husband and wife face each other, with the man on the left and the woman on the right. It is quite possible that a similarly sized Portrait of an Elderly Man standing behind a chair, currently in the Frick Collection, New York, is the pendant to this superb and engaging work.

Entry

Although the name of the sitter in this impressive portrait is not known, Hals has inscribed her age, sixty, and the date of the painting, 1633, in the background on the left. The small Bible or prayer book she holds in her right hand and her conservative black costume with its white millstone ruff collar convey a pious nature, yet Hals reveals far more about her through her face and hands than through her costume or book. With broad strokes of the brush he captures her lively, robust personality. The woman’s self-confidence is expressed in the twinkle of her eyes, in the firm grasp of her hand on the arm of the chair, and in the strong silhouette of her form against the light gray background.

This painting demonstrates the range in Hals’ brushwork for commissioned portraits of the early 1630s. At this stage of his career, projecting the three-dimensionality of the figure through strong modeling of the features was of primary importance. The form of the head is built up in planes of light that are accented with firm strokes in the highlights and shadows. The white lace cap and collar are carefully depicted, as the artist sought to project not only their detail but also their translucence. While he also articulated the design in the black jacket with great care, he indicated the folds of the skirt with comparatively free brushstrokes that suggest the flickering of light off its surface.

The woman’s pose is adapted from a portrait Hals had executed two years earlier of Cornelia Claesdr Vooght [fig. 1],[1] but the differences between these paintings are as remarkable as their similarities. By intensifying his light in the Washington painting, Hals has accented the woman’s features and given her greater three-dimensional presence. He has augmented this effect by flattening the angle of her collar, shifting the position of her right hand so that it is turned more toward the viewer, and placing her in a low-backed chair to allow her form to be silhouetted against a light background. The result of these changes is that the personality of the woman in the Washington painting is projected in a remarkably forceful and direct manner.

Cornelia Claesdr Vooght was the wife of the Haarlem burgomaster Nicolaes van der Meer, whose companion portrait Hals also painted in 1631 [fig. 2].[2] Following portrait conventions that had been developed by Sir Peter Paul Rubens (Flemish, 1577 - 1640) in the late 1610s, Hals juxtaposed a standing man with a seated woman.[3] The pose of Nicolaes van der Meer, who rests one hand on the back of a chair and holds his gloves with the other, offers a clue to identifying a possible pendant to the Washington painting: it may well be the Portrait of an Elderly Man in the Frick Collection [fig. 3],[4] in which the figure assumes a pose similar to Van der Meer’s. The proposal that the two works are pendants, first advanced by Wilhelm Valentiner, has been a matter of some dispute.[5] Slive argued against it in 1974, largely because he dated the Frick painting 1628–1630, and also stated that their provenances and dimensions differ (the Frick painting measures 115.6 by 91.4 centimeters).[6] In 1989, however, he noted that neither provenance extends back before the nineteenth century. Both works have actually been reduced in size, the Frick painting along the bottom and left edges and the Washington painting on all four sides.[7] It is possible that the original format of these paintings approached that of the Haarlem ones, which are more vertical in shape.

Stylistically, there are arguments for placing the Frick portrait in about 1633, despite the blond tonality of the painting that Slive rightly associates with Hals’ works from the late 1620s. In the Frick’s painting, as in the National Gallery of Art picture, the figure boldly faces the viewer as light firmly models his features. His costume, particu­larly in the shoulder and sleeve design, is similar to that in Portrait of a Man, 1633, now in the National Gallery, London.[8] These works are also com­parable stylistically, not only in the careful way in which the hair is delineated and in the broad, plain modeling of the face, but also in the bold strokes of the costume with precise additions of final details such as the black brocade pattern in the Washington portrait and the black tufts on the sleeve of the Frick painting. Both the Frick and the National Gallery of Art portraits also used similar materials: the canvases were prepared with a cream-tan Ground lightly tinted with brown earth, both backgrounds were loosely painted over olive-green Underpainting, and the dark gray-black paint of the final costume details has developed the same fine drying cracks in both paintings.[9]

Finally, one may also argue for the relationship of the Washington and Frick paintings in the way each of them varies from their prototype in the Haarlem pair. The hierarchical, frontal images of the 1631 portraits of the burgomaster and his wife have given way to more informal poses in which the figures turn toward the viewer and communicate through their direct glances and smiling, open expressions, a sug­gestion, perhaps, of a different social status.[10]

Arthur K. Wheelock Jr.

April 24, 2014

Inscription

center left: AETAT SVAE 60 / ANo 1633

Inscription

Provenance

Jurriaans;[1] (his sale, Van de Schley, Roos, and De Vries, Amsterdam, 28 August 1817, no. 20); Cornelius Sebille Roos [1754-1820], Amsterdam. Charlotte-Camille, Comtesse Boucher de la Rupelle [née de Tascher, d. 1911], Paris; sold by 1905 to (Charles Sedelmeyer, Paris); James Simon [1851-1932], Berlin, by 1906; (Abraham Preyer, The Hague);[2] purchased 12 June 1919 by (Duveen Brothers, Inc., London, New York, and Paris);[3] held jointly with (Thos. Agnew & Sons, Ltd., London), June to November 1919);[4] (Duveen Brothers, Inc.); sold June 1920 to Andrew W. Mellon, Pittsburgh and Washington, D.C.; deeded 28 December 1934 to The A.W. Mellon Educational and Charitable Trust, Pittsburgh; gift 1937 to NGA.

[1] The name is also inscribed on copies of the 1817 sale catalogue as “Jurjans.” See the description of Sale Catalogue N-298 in The Getty Provenance Index© Databases, J. Paul Getty Trust, Los Angeles.

[2] From The Hague on 4 May 1919, Preyer cabled fellow dealers Scott and Fowles in New York that he had purchased the painting; see Duveen Brothers Records, accession number 960015, Research Library, Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles: reel 229, box 374, folder 7.

[3] Duveen Brothers Records, accession number 960015, Research Library, Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles: reel 103, box 248, folder 22. Oddly, the Duveen prospectus, in NGA curatorial files, says the painting was acquired by Duveen in 1927, which is clearly an error.

[4] The painting was Agnew’s stock number J1821. This information comes from the Agnew stock books, and is recorded in the Public Collections portion of the Getty Provenance Index© Databases, J. Paul Getty Trust, Los Angeles.

Exhibition History
1905
Catalogue of 100 Paintings by Old Masters, Sedelmeyer Gallery, Paris, 1905, no. 13.
1906
Ausstellung von Werken alter Kunst, Kaiser-Friedrich Museum, Berlin, 1906, no. 49.
1939
Masterpieces of Art. European Paintings and Sculpture from 1300-1800, New York World's Fair, 1939, no. 179.
1989
Frans Hals, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.; Royal Academy of Arts, London; Frans Halsmuseum, Haarlem, 1989-1990, no. 45, color repro.as Portrait of a Seated Woman.
Technical Summary

The original support, a medium-weight, plain-weave fabric, has been lined with the original tacking margins trimmed. Part of the painting surface has been turned over all four stretcher edges to form a new tacking margin, reducing the height by at least 3 centimeters and the width by at least 2.5 centimeters (see text). The X-radiograph shows only faint cusping along the top and left edges. Above the book at the juncture of the dress and arm is a large repaired hole and adjacent vertical tear.

Paint is applied over a thin, cream-tan ground as a fluid paste, with impasto in thicker passages such as the brocade and book. The face and black dress are freely painted with wet-into-wet handling, and brushstrokes in the skirt and hands are left unblended. The black brocade pattern and final touches in the lace, ruff, and cap, all added in a final painting stage, create an impression of precision and restraint. Adjustments to the silhouette of the black drapery are visible to the naked eye. A cluster of small losses is found in the upper right corner, along with scattered small losses in the background and drapery, and a linear diagonal loss that passes through the proper left thumb. In 2008 the painting was treated to remove discolored varnish and overpaint. [1]

　

[1] During this treatment the painting was analyzed by the NGA Scientific Research department using microscopic examination of cross-sections (see notes dated August 21, 2008, in NGA Conservation department files).

Bibliography
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):108, no. 371.
1909
Moes, Ernst Wilhelm. Frans Hals: sa vie et son oeuvre. Translated by J. de Bosschere. Brussels, 1909: 108, no. 186.
1914
Bode, Wilhelm von, and Moritz Julius Binder. Frans Hals: His Life and Work. 2 vols. Translated by Maurice W. Brockwell. Berlin, 1914: 1:43, no. 138, pl. 79.
1914
Bode, Wilhelm von, and Moritz Julius Binder. Frans Hals: Sein Leben und seine Werke. 2 vols. Berlin, 1914: 1:40, no. 138, pl. 79.
1914
Sedelmeyer, Charles. Hundred masterpieces. A selection from the pictures by old masters which form or have formed part of the Sedelmeyer Gallery. Paris, 1914: 30, no.13, repro.
1921
Valentiner, Wilhelm R. Frans Hals: des meisters Gemälde in 318 Abbildungen. Klassiker der Kunst in Gesamtausgaben 28. Stuttgart and Berlin, 1921: 313, 103, 109, repro.
1923
Valentiner, Wilhelm R. Frans Hals: des Meisters Gemälde in 322 Abbildungen. Klassiker der Kunst in Gesamtausgaben 28. 2nd ed. Stuttgart, Berlin, and Leipzig, 1923: 313, 109, repro.
1930
Dülberg, Franz. Frans Hals: Ein Leben und ein Werk. Stuttgart, 1930: 114.
1936
Valentiner, Wilhelm R. Frans Hals Paintings in America. Westport, Connecticut, 1936: no. 41, repro.
1937
Cortissoz, Royal. An Introduction to the Mellon Collection. Boston, 1937: 40.
1939
McCall, George Henry. Masterpieces of art: Catalogue of European paintings and sculpture from 1300-1800. Edited by Wilhelm R. Valentiner. Exh. cat. New York World's Fair, New York, 1939: 86, no. 179.
1941
Duveen Brothers. Duveen Pictures in Public Collections of America. New York, 1941: no. 191, repro.
1941
Preliminary Catalogue of Paintings and Sculpture. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1941: 94, no. 67.
1941
Trivas, Numa S. The Paintings of Frans Hals. London and New York, 1941: 39, no. 41, pl. 59.
1942
National Gallery of Art. Book of illustrations. 2nd ed. Washington, 1942: 67, repro. 25, 240.
1949
National Gallery of Art. Paintings and Sculpture from the Mellon Collection. Washington, 1949: 74, repro.
1957
Shapley, Fern Rusk. Comparisons in art: A Companion to the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. London, 1957: pl. 101.
1963
Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. New York, 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: 57, 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):115; 2(1970):pls. 135, 138; 3(1974):42, 50, no. 82.
1972
Grimm, Claus. Frans Hals: Entwicklung, Werkanalyse, Gesamtkatolog. Berlin, 1972: 90, 202, no. 60, 89, repro.
1974
Montagni, E.C. L’opera completa di Frans Hals. Classici dell’Arte. Milan, 1974: 97, no. 83, 96, pl. 31.
1975
National Gallery of Art. European paintings: An Illustrated Summary Catalogue. Washington, 1975: 168, repro.
1975
Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington. New York, 1975: 268, no. 350, repro.
1979
Watson, Ross. The National Gallery of Art, Washington. New York, 1979: 68, pl. 53.
1981
Baard, H. P. Frans Hals. New York, 1981: 57, fig. 60.
1984
Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington. Rev. ed. New York, 1984: 268, no. 344, color repro.
1984
Wheelock, Arthur K., Jr. Dutch Painting in the National Gallery of Art. Washington, D.C., 1984: 10, repro.
1985
National Gallery of Art. European Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. Washington, 1985: 196, repro.
1986
Sutton, Peter C. A Guide to Dutch Art in America. Grand Rapids and Kampen, 1986: 308.
1989
Slive, Seymour. Frans Hals. Exh. cat. National Gallery of Art, Washington; Royal Academy of Arts, London; Frans Halsmuseum, Haarlem. London, 1989: 262-263, no. 45, color repro.
1990
Grimm, Claus. Frans Hals: The Complete Work. Translated by Jürgen Riehle. New York, 1990: color repro. 168, 183, 279, no. 63.
1991
Kopper, Philip. America's National Gallery of Art: A Gift to the Nation. New York, 1991: 67.
1992
Crijns, Marianne, and Rieke van Leeuwen. Huidziekten in de Beeldende Kunst. Nieuwegein, 1992: 84, color repro.
1992
National Gallery of Art. National Gallery of Art, Washington. New York, 1992: 123, repro.
1995
Wheelock, Arthur K., Jr. Dutch Paintings of the Seventeenth Century. The Collections of the National Gallery of Art Systematic Catalogue. Washington, 1995: 69-72, color repro. 71.
2001
Southgate, M. Therese. The Art of JAMA II: Covers and Essays from The Journal of the American Medical Association. Chicago, 2001: 50-51, color repro.
2002
Weller, Dennis P. Jan Miense Molenaer: Painter of the Dutch Golden Age. Exh. cat. North Carolina Museum of Art, Raleigh; Indianapolis Museum of Art, Indianapolis; Currier Museum of Art, Manchester. Raleigh, 2002: 110-111, repro.
2004
Hand, John Oliver. National Gallery of Art: Master Paintings from the Collection. Washington and New York, 2004: 186-187, no. 146, color repro.
2005
Harris, Ann Sutherland. Seventeenth-century Art and Architecture. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey, 2005: 322, repro.
2012
Atkins, Christopher D.M. The Signature Style of Frans Hals: Painting, Subjectivity, and the Market in Early Modernity. Amsterdam, 2012: 226.
2014
Wheelock, Arthur K, Jr. "The Evolution of the Dutch Painting Collection." National Gallery of Art Bulletin no. 50 (Spring 2014): 2-19, repro.
2020
Dwyer, Kate. "A Riddle, Wrapped Inside a Twitter Account. New York Times 169, no. 58,743 (July 3, 2020): C6, repro.
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