Frans Hals - Laughing boy

The impish expression of this laughing boy is so perfectly portrayed that only Frans Hals could have done it. The lad’s broad grin exposes his slightly brown teeth. He cheeks are blooming with health, and his tangled hair sticks out in all directions. This is without doubt one of the most disarmingly endearing pictures of the 17th century. Here Hals used an extremely coarse manner of painting featuring broad brushwork. The individual brushstrokes are still clearly visible, particularly in the hair and the collar. Here Hals painted, quickly and spontaneously, his impression of this cheerful child. Such paintings, called ‘tronies’ in the 17th century, were not intended as portraits: the point was to produce not an identifiable likeness but an apt characterisation or a particular mood – in this case the boy’s infectious laughter.		artist Frans Hals title Laughing boy period c.1625 material paneel dimensions 30.45 cm (diameter)
The ‘neat’ and the ‘rough’ Hals The Mauritshuis owns three paintings by Frans Hals, all of which were painted around 1625: the portraits of Jacob Olycan and Aletta Hanemans and the Laughing boy. Despite their contemporaneous origins, however, there is a world of difference between the two portraits and the head of the little boy. The portraits of Jacob Olycan and Aletta Hanemans were commissioned works, which is why Hals used a more meticulous style. In the 17th century this was called the ‘neat’ style. The Laughing boy is much more coarsely painted in what was then called the ‘rough’ style. Hals therefore made this painting for his own pleasure; he was obviously free to do so. As Hals grew older and more experienced, he began to use the ‘rough’ style more and more often for portrait commissions – and it was precisely this that made him world-famous.
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