Frans Hals
Frans Hals was born between 1581 and 1585, probably in Antwerp. He and his family moved quickly to Haarlem, in Netherlands, for religious reasons. In 1600, Hals became the apprentice of a mannerist painter but did not enter the local guild of Saint-Luc until 1610. He really knew the success from 1616 with his group portraits including his banquets of officers, his meetings of brotherhoods etc... Frans Hals died in 1666 at Haarlem.
Frans Hals was a Baroque portrait painter. His famous works are "Le Bouffon au luth", "René Descartes" and "Catherine Both van der Een".
Frans Hals was particularly associated with Rubens, Rembrandt and Johannes Vermeer.