Hals-Rembrandt
Date
6 November 2026 - 28 February 2027
Location
Frans Hals Museum
Audience
Adults
Two grandmasters
Frans Hals (1582/83, Antwerp – 1666, Haarlem) and Rembrandt van Rijn (1606, Leiden – 1669, Amsterdam) are the two masters of 17th-century portraiture. Both are renowned for their loose brush strokes and ability to depict people as they truly were. They didn’t just paint rich regents, they also produced realistic portraits of children, actors and musicians. Their style is quite similar but also very different. Rembrandt was always experimenting and kept adding layers to reach the essence of his subjects. Frans Hals seemed to have a more confident and swift style of painting, resulting in paintings that seem to be snapshots of reality.
During this exhibition the museum will open at 10.00 AM. We want to offer visitors the space to view the works of Hals and Rembrandt attentively. Due to the expected crowds, online reservation is mandatory. Time slots for groups are available from 3.15 PM. Additionally, the use of whisper sets is mandatory for group visits with tourguide.
Extraordinary combinations
This exhibition displays nineteen paintings by Hals and Rembrandt alongside one another. Each combination showcases a particular challenge: how to paint children, whether it is possible to depict music, how to bring life to a group portrait. Look with intent and see more. See Rembrandt and Hals through new eyes.
With thanks to
The exhibition was made possible thanks to an exceptionally generous loan of five paintings from the Rijksmuseum’s collection. Of particular note is the inclusion of Rembrandt’s The Syndics (1662), which bears clear similarities to Hals’s Regents series.
This exhibition has been made possible by to the generous support of the Beminnaers, the private patrons of the Frans Hals Museum. We also thank VriendenLoterij, Blockbusterfonds XTRA, De Gijselaar-Hintzenfonds, Stichting Thurkowfonds, Gravin van Bylandt Stichting en JC Ruigrok Fonds. The exhibition has been supported by the Dutch government: an indemnity grant has been provided bythe Cultural Heritage Agency of the Netherlands on behalf of the Minister of Education, Culture and Science.