Frans Hals Museum Haarlem has the largest collection of Frans Hals paintings in the world.
It is a former ‘old men’s house’ built in 1608.
There are fourteen paintings of his hand on display, including his famous civic guard paintings.
Due to religious persecution during the Eighty Years’ War, Frans Hals came to Haarlem as one of the many Flemish refugees.
Frans Hals (1582-1666) became one of the most famous portrait painters of his time. Among his greatest works are the portraits of the militia’s, similar to Rembrandt’s works.
He was able to suggest movement and detail with a single, rough stroke of the brush, and because of his special use of colors. He is sometimes referred to as ‘the first impressionist’. Vincent van Gogh admired his modernist style.