Frans Hals at Sotheby's
July 13 2020
Picture: Sotheby's
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
Here's a short blog Sotheby's have posted regarding the recently re-emerged portrait by Frans Hals that they will be offering for sale this month. The piece, penned by Old Master Paintings board director and co-Chairman George Gordon, gives a very interesting account and history of previous scholarly opinions. The Frans Hals scholar Seymour Slive (d.2014), whose catalogue raisonné remains the definitive text on the artist, had thought the portrait to be a studio piece rather than by Hals himself. Slive only had access to low-quality black and white photographs showing painting before recent restoration had removed the obscuring dirt and discoloured varnish. The painting's authorship to Hals has now been accepted by scholars Claus Grimm, Norbert Middelkoop and Pieter Biesboer.
The portrait will be offered for sale on 28th July 2020 with an estimate of £2m - £3m.
