http://smalltreasures.as.ua.edu/?p=722

 

Frans Hals was a portrait painter in Haarlem beginning around 1616. His style changed throughout his life, most notably the color fades from bold to portraits dominated by black. Hals was hardly appreciated for his works while he was still alive, especially on an international scare.  As time goes on, Hals creates an unprecedented style that is both a mode of personal expression as well as a way to bring life to a still image. He creates a style used in “Girl Singing” that brought the little girl to life, the viewer can almost hear the words coming out of her mouth. Although colors are present, they are all muted. Unlike artists in the past, Hals does not use color to provoke emotion, rather his brushstroke.

 

The latter half of the 19th century was when Hals work became most famous and respected on an international scale. His unprecedented brushstroke puts him in a category some art critics would consider modern. His style influenced so many of the great impressionists. He was the first to paint an image not just as he saw it, but how he wanted the viewer to see it. His brushstroke created movement and emotion where color and subject lacked. “…he brushed his portraits with greasy softly melting paint layers, thereafter applying unblended brushstrokes that were intentionally left as the hallmark of his particular technique”. Although he is overshadowed in modern art history by Impressionists such as Monet, art historians believe that it was Frans Hals that Impressionists looked to for inspiration.