Frans Hals studied under the Flemish painter and art theoretician Karel van Mander in Haarlem and was accepted into the painters’ guild there in 1610. Apart from one visit to Antwerp in 1616, Hals never left Holland.

The exceptional feature of his portraits is that they have the character of a snapshot of the subject. Yet precise detail in his portraits takes second place to an expressive painting style. There are also no preparatory drawings by Frans Hals. He probably developed his paintings directly on the canvas. During the course of his career, Hals reduced his colour palette to dark black, brown and grey tones. Vivacity was then conveyed by an increasingly sketchy painting style.

Following the deaths of Peter Paul Rubens (1640) and Anthony van Dyck (1641), Franz Hals became the most important portraitist in the Netherlands. Paintings of private individuals were joined by important public commissions which established his reputation. His open painting style was particularly studied by Impressionists such as Gustave Courbet and Édouard Manet, who also initiated a new appreciation of the art of Frans Hals.