Portrait of a Man

Frans Hals

early 1650s · Oil on canvas · European Paintings

In this canvas of the early 1650s, the figure's pose follows a pattern Hals employed twenty years earlier, but here the arrangement is more frontal and contained. The resulting impression of reserve or authority is relieved by the relaxed expression, and perhaps by the French fashions of flounced sleeves and colorful ribbons at the waist. Vivid brushwork and the nearness of the foreshortened hat add to the portrait's immediacy.

Artist

Frans Hals

Date

early 1650s

Medium

Oil on canvas

Department

European Paintings

Credit line

Marquand Collection, Gift of Henry G. Marquand, 1890