His Early Life

Frans Hals the Elder (1582-1666) was a Dutch Golden Age painter. He was born in 1582 in Antwerp, Flanders, Spanish Netherlands, present Belgium. Hals was the son of a cloth merchant, Franchois Fransz and his second wife. His family fled during the fall of Antwerp form the south to Haarlem in the new Dutch Republic in the north. He lived there during the remaining years of his life.

Painter of Dignitaries

Hals studied under Karel van Mander in his early days. He became a member of the Haarlem Guild of Saint Luke and started earning money as an art restorer for the town council. Most of his works made during these early days hung in the St. John’s Church in Haarlem. Hals is best known for portraits of, mainly, wealthy citizens such as Pieter van den Broucek and Issacs Massa. He painted their portraits several times in his painting life. He also painted large group portraits for local civic guards and for the regents of local hospitals. He ended up painting the governors and governesses of the almshouse where he spent his penniless old age. He was well-known for individual and group portraits and genre paintings.

Stubburn Painter

The portrait of Jaobus Zaffius was Hals’ earliest known example. He made it in 1611. His real breakthrough came in the form of life-size group portrait ‘The Banquet of the Officers of the St George Militia Company in 1616. Rene Descartes, whom Hans painted in 1649, was his famous sitter. During those days, most of the contemporary artists, including the greats like Rembrandt, moved their households according to the wishes of their patrons. However Hals did not follow this trend and he always remained in Haarlem and insisted that his customers visit him at his place.

Became Penniless and Destitute

Hals’s work was in demand through much of his long life. In addition to painting, Hals also worked as a restorer, art dealer and art tax expert for the city councilors. In the later part of his artistic life, he went out of style as a painter and started facing financial difficulties. When his creditors took him to court several times, he had to sell his belongings to settle his debt, particularly, that of a baker in 1652. When he became utterly penniless and destitute, the municipality gave him an annuity of 200 florins in 1664.

His Famous Painting ‘The Laughing Cavalier’

His famous paintings are ‘The Laughing Cavalier’ (1624), ‘Malle Gabbe’, (1633), ‘The Lute Player’, ‘The Merry Drinker’ (1630), ‘The Gypsy Girl’ (1628), ‘Laughing Boy’ (1625), ‘Meagre Company’ (1637),