Frans Hals - De regentessen van het oudemannenhuis

''The Regentesses of the Old Men's Almshouse Haarlem'' is a

regents group portrait A regents group portrait (''regentenstuk'' or ''regentessenstuk'' in Dutch, literally "regents' piece"), is a group portrait of the board of trustees, called regents or regentesses, of a charitable organization or guild. This type of group portrai ...

of four regentesses and their servant painted by

Frans Hals Frans Hals the Elder (, , ; – 26 August 1666) was a Dutch Golden Age painter, chiefly of individual and group portraits and of genre works, who lived and worked in Haarlem. Hals played an important role in the evolution of 17th-century group ...

, ''c.'' 1664, for the

Oude Mannenhuis An Oudemannenhuis, or ''Old Men's house'' is a Dutch term for a home for poor men older than sixty, who could spend their final days enjoying regular meals and a clean place to sleep. It can be regarded as an early type of retirement home, which la ...

Haarlem Haarlem (; predecessor of ''Harlem'' in English) is a city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is the capital of the province of North Holland. Haarlem is situated at the northern edge of the Randstad, one of the most populated metropoli ...

, the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

. It forms a

pendant A pendant is a loose-hanging piece of jewellery, generally attached by a small loop to a necklace, which may be known as a "pendant necklace". A pendant earring is an earring with a piece hanging down. Its name stems from the Latin word ...

with the ''

Regents of the Old Men's Almshouse ''The Regents of the Old Men's Almshouse'' is a regents group portrait of five regents and their servant painted by Frans Hals in 1664 for the Oude Mannenhuis in Haarlem, the Netherlands. It forms a pendant with the '' Regentesses of the Old Men ...

''.

Background

The regentesses portrayed were (left to right) Adriaentje Schouten, Marijtje Willemsdr (also recorded as regentess of

Het Dolhuys Het Dolhuys( meaning in English: "The crazy house") is a national museum for psychiatry in Haarlem, Netherlands. The museum was founded in 2005 in the newly renovated former old age home known as ''Schoterburcht'', located just across the Schot ...

), Anna van Damme (first married Abraham de Ridder, then in 1650 married Salomon Cousaert), Adriana Bredenhof (wife of the ''schout'' Mattheus Everswijn).Catalog number 86, Frans Hals, by Seymour Slive (editor), with contributions by Pieter Biesboer, Martin Bijl, Karin Groen and Ella Hendriks, Michael Hoyle, Frances S. Jowell, Koos Levy-van Halm and Liesbeth Abraham, Bianca M. Du Mortier, Irene van Thiel-Stroman, Prestel-Verlag, Munich & Mercatorfonds, Antwerp, 1989, Frans Hals painted them in his "loose style", with rough brush strokes. The painting is traditionally dated 1664, though no archival evidence has yet been found to confirm this. The lack of any meticulous finishing, unusual in Hals' portraits of women, lead experts to assume this was painted towards the end of his life when he painted more loosely than in his younger years. The style of the women's dress also places the portrait well past the millstone collars of the 1640s and earlier. The painting currently hangs in the same location for which it was painted, namely the old men's almshouse in Haarlem known today as the

Frans Hals Museum The Frans Hals Museum is a museum located in Haarlem, the Netherlands. The museum was established in 1862. In 1950, the museum was split in two locations when the collection of modern art was moved to the '' Museum De Hallen'' (since 2018 called ...

. According to

Pieter Biesboer Pieter Biesboer (born 1944), is a Dutch art historian and prolific writer on 17th-century Dutch art. His specialty is art from Haarlem. Career Biesboer was a curator at Stedelijk Museum het Prinsenhof in Delft during the years 1973-1976. Bie ...

, the landscape painting on the rear wall is unidentified, but could possibly be an allegorical representation of the ''Good Samaritan'', though no figures can be seen in it.

19th century copies

In the 19th-century when Hals' loose brushwork became popular with impressionists, several copies were made of this painting: File:Edouard Manet after Frans Hals - Regentesses of the Old Men's Almshouse in Haarlem data37045967-ae8c77.jpg,

Édouard Manet Édouard Manet (, ; ; 23 January 1832 – 30 April 1883) was a French modernist painter. He was one of the first 19th-century artists to paint modern life, as well as a pivotal figure in the transition from Realism to Impressionism. Born ...

made a copy upon his visit recorded on 26 June 1872 File:John Singer Sargent - copy of right portion of Hals portrait of The Regentesses of the Old Men's Almshouse Haarlem - Birmingham Museum of Art.jpg,

John Singer Sargent John Singer Sargent (; January 12, 1856 – April 14, 1925) was an American expatriate artist, considered the "leading portrait painter of his generation" for his evocations of Edwardian-era luxury. He created roughly 900 oil paintings and more ...

made a copy of the right portion File:Noel Rowe - William Merritt Chase in his studio on Tenth Street New York.jpg,

William Merritt Chase William Merritt Chase (November 1, 1849October 25, 1916) was an American painter, known as an exponent of Impressionism and as a teacher. He is also responsible for establishing the Chase School, which later would become Parsons School of Design. ...

made a copy which he hung in his studio on Tenth Street, New York

Max Lieberman Max Liebermann (20 July 1847 – 8 February 1935) was a German painter and printmaker, and one of the leading proponents of Impressionism in Germany and continental Europe. In addition to his activity as an artist, he also assembled an important ...

also made a copy of one of the heads.

James Abbott McNeill Whistler James Abbott McNeill Whistler (; July 10, 1834July 17, 1903) was an American painter active during the American Gilded Age and based primarily in the United Kingdom. He eschewed sentimentality and moral allusion in painting and was a leading pr ...

visited in 1882, 1885, and in 1902 to study the Frans Hals paintings, and according to a witness of his last visit, was "completely charmed by the old women". The copy by Manet was discovered in 2018 and shown at the Frans Hals Museum during their 2018 exhibition ''Frans Hals and the Moderns''. Like other copies after Hals' work, the copy gives insights into the state of the painting during Manet's time.Hals copy by Manet found in Italy
11 October 2018 article in NRC Handelsblad

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Regentesses of the Old Men's Almshouse 1664 paintings Collections in the Frans Hals Museum Portraits by Frans Hals People from Haarlem Portraits of women Group portraits by Dutch artists

Background

19th century copies

See also

References