News item | 27-05-2025 | 00:05
At an auction in New York, the Frans Hals Museum and the Mauritshuis together purchased two paintings by Frans Hals. Violin boy and Singing girl were purchased from Sotheby’s with the support of the Rembrandt Association, the Mondriaan Fund, the National Purchase Fund of the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science, the Friends of the Frans Hals Museum, the Vrienden Loterij and the municipality of Haarlem. The paintings are a unique asset for the Netherlands, because they may show Hals’ own children and look through to the Netherlands in the 17one century. The works remain together and will be shown alternately in Haarlem and The Hague.
The two panels, painted in around 1628, are an important addition to the public art collection of the Netherlands and to the collections of both museums. Frans Hals is internationally known for its portraits and its genre pieces: images of ordinary people in their daily activities that you could still encounter on the street today. It is precisely this kind of genre of Hals that have hardly been found in the Netherlands collection so far. The purchased portraits of two music making are extra special because the boy and the girl may be his own son and daughter.
Eppo Bruins, Minister of Education, Culture and Science (OCW): ‘It is wonderful that these paintings by Frans Hals, who were first in the hands of a foreign private person, are back home. They offer a glimpse into daily life in the 17th century and are a wonderful example of the characteristic loose paint test of Hals. It’s great that two museums with the support of the government and private givers are joining forces, so that this unique Dutch top art can soon be admired for everyone. ‘
Neck ‘legacy
Frans Hals (1583-1666) is one of the most famous and most innovative Dutch painters from the 17th century. His dynamic brush strokes and spontaneous compositions made his work unique and received a lot of imitation. His style was appreciated in his own time and earned him many tasks for portraits, such as Van Rijke Brouwers and Schutters in Haarlem. In addition, he often portrayed ordinary people, a development that started in Haarlem, among others, and was later reflected in Heel Holland. Even in later times his work had a major influence on artists such as the impressionists and Vincent van Gogh.
Missing puzzle piece for museums
The Frans Hals Museum has the largest collection of Hals in the world, but has not yet had any genre pieces. With these two panels, this important part of Hals’ oeuvre also has a place in the museum. The paintings will be shown in the Frans Hals Museum from mid -July and are part of the exhibition Hals-Rembrandtwhich takes place there from November 2026.
As a museum with 17th-century masterpieces, the work of Frans Hals is relatively under-represented within the collection of the Mauritshuis. In mid -October the paintings will be shown for the first time in the Mauritshuis in a presentation about the development of genre painting in that early 17th century. The children will be flanked by works by painters such as Willem Buytewech and the Flemish Adriaen Brouwer who worked in Haarlem around the same time.
Purchased with support from
Violin boy and Singing girl Van Frans Hals were purchased with the support of the Rembrandt Association, the Mondriaan Fund, the National Purchase Fund of the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science, the Friends of the Friends Hals Museum, the Vrienden Loterij and the municipality of Haarlem.
