Hals Virtuosi-Liefhebbers Summary

Throughout this reading, Atkins focuses on Frans Hals’s artistic execution of roughness in his art pieces. He points out that Hals’s artistic virtuosity is displayed through the sketchiness of his painting, the connection between him and previous famed painters, and the unique method he employed. Further, Atkins argues that many of Hals’s sitters are “virtuosi-liefhebbers”, meaning knowledgeable lovers of art. Through Hals’s rough brushwork, his sitters were shown refined and cultured. Also, Atkins suggests that Hals was aware of his virtuosity and intended to lead viewers to capture the artfulness of his master’s touch. The author talks about Hals’s virtuosity from the perspectives of Hals’s contemporaries, Hals’s sitters, and Hals himself. These people are discussed progressively from the ones who are far away from him, to the ones who are closer to him, and finally himself. Thus, the article is organized from objectivity to subjectivity, and from the exterior to the interior.
Atkins makes a convincing argument about contemporary consideration …show more content…
Atkins first shows that Hals’s sitters collect a large amount of quality paintings, which meets the basic definition of Liefhebbers. Then he uses the example of people’s love of grisailles made by Adriaen van de Venne to show that Hals’s sitters have the same refined appreciation, because both Van De Venne and Hals have rough manners, and their audiences are capable of appreciating their artful individual strokes. Also, the sitters are depicted as elegant and cultured in Hals’s rough paintings, suggesting that they have sophisticated tastes. The high quality and considerable quantity of the collections of the sitters, as well as their choice of making Hals their portraiture painter, solidly supported the author’s argument that they are knowledgeable lovers of