HALS, Dirck
(b. 1591, Haarlem, d. 1656, Haarlem)

A Merry Company Making Music

1623
Oil on oak panel, 23 x 31 cm
Private collection

Depictions of merry companies had begun at the very beginning of the seventeenth century with Esaias van de Velde, David Vinckboons and Dirck Hals' elder brother by ten years, Frans. These they set in elegant gardens or on outdoor terraces but it was Dirck Hals and Buytewech who were the first to move them indoors in the early 1620s.

The present work joins the Musicians as one of Dirck Hals' two earliest known interiors, both dated 1623. During these early years Hals was more influenced by the work of Willem Buytewech than by that of his brother Frans, and indeed until 1628 he often lifted figures directly from Buytewech and inserted them into his work.




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