John Bezold

‘The 14 Hals Children’

2021

In a recent talk given as part of the Wallace Collection’s programming to support the exhibition ‘Frans Hals: The Male Portrait’, Lelia Packer erroneously stated that, in total, Hals had 12 children.1 In fact, he fathered 14; four of them were female, and 10 of them were male; three of those males emanated from the first of Hals’ marriages, to Anneke Harmensdochter; the remaining 11 were conceived from Frans’ second marriage to Lysbeth Reynier.2 It’s today, well known that Hals married twice, though–as evidenced from the above–it remains little known that, in total, he had 14 children, and that five of his own sons were also painters. Most of what is known about Hals’ family, is owed to Abraham Bredius, Cornelis Hofstede de Groot, and Claus Grimm.3 Harmen Hals (1611–1669), Frans Hals II (1618–1669), Jan Hals (1620–1654), Reynier Hals (1627–1672), and Nicolaes Hals (1628–1686), were Hals’ sons who became painters.4 Of the five sons of Frans Hals who also became painters, all but Harmen were from his second marriage to Lysbeth Reynier. Of the three children born by Anneke Harmensdochter, two died as infants in 1613 and 1614. From his second, nearly 50-year long marriage, Hals and Lysbeth had four girls and seven boys. While several of the children from this marriage, namely the painting sons, lived long lives, several death dates of the children from this marriage are unknown: Adriaentje, Maria, and Susanna. The only children whose birthday and baptism are, equally unknown, are Anthonie and Pieter Hals. Sara lived the shortest lifespan, of those children whose either baptism or birth are known, together with a date of death; she lived to be about 25 years old, and the next shortest living child was Jan–the shortest-lived of the Hals family painters at c. 30 years. Unlike their parents, and most often on the part of the painter sons; the Hals children were not particularly graced regarding the octogenarian ages that their mother (c. 82) and father (c. 83/84) both reached.

  1. Lelia Packer, ‘Meet the Expert: Frans Hals and the Male Portrait’, The Wallace Collection, October 21, 2021. ‘He was married twice and had 12 children; quite a large family.’↑
  2. Irene van Thiel-Stroman, ‘Frans Franchoisz Hals’, in Painting in Haarlem, 1500–1850: The Collection of the Frans Hals Museum, et al. Neeltje Köhler (Ghent/Haarlem: Luidon/Frans Hals Museum, 2006), 181. Irene van Thiel-Stroman, ‘Dirck Franchoisz Hals’, in Painting in Haarlem, 1500–1850: The Collection of the Frans Hals Museum, et al. Neeltje Köhler (Ghent/Haarlem: Luidon/Frans Hals Museum, 2006), 176. Irene van Thiel-Stroman, ‘Anthony Dircksz Hals’, in Painting in Haarlem, 1500–1850: The Collection of the Frans Hals Museum, et al. Neeltje Köhler (Ghent/Haarlem: Luidon/Frans Hals Museum, 2006), 172. Irene van Thiel-Stroman, ‘Harmen Fransz Hals’, in Painting in Haarlem, 1500–1850: The Collection of the Frans Hals Museum, et al. Neeltje Köhler (Ghent/Haarlem: Luidon/Frans Hals Museum, 2006), 185. Irene van Thiel-Stroman, ‘Jan (Johannes) Franz Hals’, in Painting in Haarlem, 1500–1850: The Collection of the Frans Hals Museum, et al. Neeltje Köhler (Ghent/Haarlem: Luidon/Frans Hals Museum, 2006), 186-187. Irene van Thiel-Stroman, ‘Reynier Fransz Hals’, in Painting in Haarlem, 1500–1850: The Collection of the Frans Hals Museum, et al. Neeltje Köhler (Ghent/Haarlem: Luidon/Frans Hals Museum, 2006), 187. Irene van Thiel-Stroman, ‘Claes (Nicolaes) Fransz Hals’, in Painting in Haarlem, 1500–1850: The Collection of the Frans Hals Museum, et al. Neeltje Köhler (Ghent/Haarlem: Luidon/Frans Hals Museum, 2006), 176-177. Claus Grimm, ‘Frans Hals und Seine Schule’, MünchenerJahrbuch der bildenden Kunst 22 (1971): 147-178.↑
  3. There is currently one study in the world, unpublished, that has synthesized Hals’ entire family, immediate and extended: John Bezold, Frans Hals’ Forgotten Family and the Lost Art of Connoisseurship, MA(Res) Thesis, University of Amsterdam, 2017. The sources for the reconstruction of the Hals family, can be found in the corresponding footnotes and bibliography of this study on the Halses.↑
  4. Abraham Bredius, ‘Een Schilderij van Jan Hals door Vondel Bezongen’, Oud Holland 6 (1888): 304. ‘Herman Hals te Lianen’, Oud Holland 27, no. 1 (1909): 196-197. Abraham Bredius, ‘Archiefsprokkels betreffende Dirck Hals’, Oud Holland 41, no. 1 (1923): 60-61. Abraham Bredius, ‘Oorkonden over Jan Hals’, Oud Holland 41 (1923-1924): 263-264. Abraham Bredius, ‘Archiefsprokkels Betreffende Herman Hals’, Oud Holland 41 (1923-1924): 215. Abraham Bredius, ‘Eenige Gegevens over Frans Hals den Jonge’, Oud Holland 41 (1923-1924): 215. Abraham Bredius, ‘Oorkonden over Reynier Hals’, Oud Holland 41 (1923-1924): 258-259. Abraham Bredius, ‘Archiefsprokkels Betreffende Frans Hals’, Oud Holland 41 (1923-1924): 19-31.↑