Studio Lighting - Art History

this one is a long one, so bear with me here. The Laughing Cavalier (83 x 67 cm, Oil paint on canvas, Painted in 1624 by Frans Hals)

The Movement: Baroque

Beginning in the first third of the 17th century and ending in the mid 1700’s, the Baroque movement started in Italy, and was encouraged by the Catholic Church as a way to challenge Protestantism. The Baroque movement came near the end of the renaissance, but it still created some notable paintings in that time frame. The movement was well known for its use of contrast, movement, exuberant detail, grandeur and surprise in order to create a sense of awe. The movement began in Rome, but spread to countries like France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Austria, and Germany. Famous Baroque paintings include Las Meninas by Diego Velazquez, The Night Watch by Rembrandt, The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Nicolaes Tulp by Rembrandt, The Milkmaid by Vermeer, and The Laughing Cavalier by Frans Hals, shown above. The era of the Baroque style faded out by the 19th century, at that time becoming a target for ridicule and criticism. Instead, the era of Classicism era began, with many stating that Classicism was morally superior to the Baroque style. Still, the original charm of the Baroque movement still captivates people, even today.

The Artist: Frans Hals

Frans Hals the Elder (Born 1582 in Antwerp, Flanders, Spanish Netherlands (Now Belgium), Died 26 August 1666 in Haarlem, Dutch Republic (Now the Netherlands)) was a Dutch Golden Age Painter who lived and worked in Haarlem. Mostly painting portraits throughout his lifetime, you can identify a Hals painting by the loose painterly brushwork. Outside of his paintings, he is well known for helping to introduce the lively style of painting into Dutch art, as well as playing an important part in the evolution of 17th century group portraiture. His first well known portrait was The Banquet of the Officers of the St George Militia Company in 1616, which is currently in the Frans Hals Museum in his hometown of Haarlem. As his life went on, his paintings had a noticeable change in its use of colour, from being vivid in colour to being dominated by the colour black. The painting above was painted early in his career, so it is more rich in colours such as white, red, blue, and gold. After his death in 1666, his reputation as an artist waned, but the art that was originally considered mediocre was praised by others centuries after his death. He is obviously gone, but it will be hard to forget his impact on the art world. The Painting: The Laughing Cavalier ‘The Laughing Cavalier’ was painted sometime around 1624, and features an unknown subject, presumably a cavalier and, according to the text on the top right, a 26 year old. Posing straight up and featuring a smile from the subject, the cavalier looks confident. It is currently in the hands of the Wallace Collection in London, England, and is displayed in the Great Gallery section of the collection.

The first official sale of this painting goes back to 1770 in The Hague, Netherlands, where it was bought by James Pourtalès-Gorgier, a Franco-Swiss banker. After his death, it was sold again in 1865 to Richard Seymour-Conway, who lived in Paris. He notably outbid James Mayer de Rothschild, the founder of the French branch of the Rothschild family. It was brought to London after 1871, where it was put on exhibition, to huge success, and helped raise Frans Hals paintings popularity. When it was exhibited again in 1888, it gots its name of ‘The Laughing Cavalier’, originally having been called ‘Portrait of a Man’. Unfortunately, a series of cleaning processes may have changed the effect of the painting, and may have left him with less of a smile and more of a small grin. The Laughing Cavalier was eventually left to Sir Richard Wallace Bt.. After he died, his widow donated it to the Wallace Collection, where it currently resides today.

The Laughing Cavalier is one of the best examples of the Baroque style of painting, as well as one of the best known painting by Frans Hals. It’s charm is its greatest feature, and white portrait pictures of unidentified people aren’t anything new, the way Hals was able to make his subject so memorable is what makes this painting great. My Interpretation: