Frans Hals

Acquired by William Sturgis Bigelow, Boston, in the late 1880s and presented by him to the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston in 1921, inv.no. 21.1449;
Private collection, USA.

Boston, Copley Hall, Portraits, 1896, no.163;
New York, Schaeffer Galleries, Frans Hals Exhibition, 9-30 November 1937, no. 11.

Newsweek, November 22, 1937, no. 21, p. 37, "Dutch Lady: Boston Now Knows She Belongs to Franz Hals", reproduced (as by Hals);
C.C. Cunningham, "A Recently Discovered Portrait by Frans Hals", Burlington Magazine, vol. LXXII, 1938, pp. 87-88 (as by Hals);
W.G. Constable, Museum of Fine Arts Boston, Catalogue, 1955, p. 31, no.21.1449 (as not by Hals);
S. Slive, Frans Hals, vol. III, London,1974, p.154, cat. no. D72, reproduced fig. 193 (as not by Hals);
E.C. Montagni, L'opera completa di Frans Hals, Milan 1974, pp. 97-98, no. 96, reproduced (as by Hals);
Meesters der Schilderkunst: Frans Hals, Rotterdam,1976 (Translation from the Italian), pp. 98-99, no. 96, reproduced (as by Hals);
A.R. Murphy, European Paintings in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Boston 1985, p.128, reproduced (as by a follower of Hals);
C. Grimm, Frans Hals: Das Gesamtwerk, Stuttgart-Zürich 1989, p. 28, (reproduced fig. 15), p. 275, cat. no. 64 (as by Hals);
C. Grimm, Frans Hals: The Complete Work, New York 1990 (translated from the German), p. 28, (reproduced fig.15), p.279, cat. no. 64 reproduced (as by Hals).

"The following condition report has been provided by Sarah Walden, an independent restorer who is not an employee of Sotheby's. This painting has a quite hard twentieth century lining, apparently with more recent reinforcement of the canvas at the edges. The stretcher is older. There could be some faint scalloping in the canvas along the top edge, but it may well have been cut all round, as all the edges are quite retouched. The head itself and the ruff retain the strength and directness of the original brushwork, although there is no doubt that they are thin. The grey ground emerges in the craquelure throughout the face and the ruff and coif. This has been minutely touched out, with tiny touches in the forehead and across the face, most extensively in the shadow of the temple on the right. There is one rather longer retouching beneath the left eye and another similar vertical retouching about an inch long at upper right of the coif. In the ruff there are also many little touches with rather more in the shadows to the right and in the darker lower folds. This retouching has been carefully done, with just a slightly disturbing, more darkened patch at the edge of the shadow on the forehead by the right eyebrow. The lower black brocade has quite widespread strengthening, and the upper background seems to have a certain amount of older retouching with more recent bands of retouching around the edges visible under ultra violet light. A superficial varnish layer across the upper background has just been streakily removed up to the edge of the figure. Although a fragment is always liable to have suffered damage, fortunately the continuing integrity of the brushwork ensures that the painting retains a strong presence. This report was not done under laboratory conditions."
"This lot is offered for sale subject to Sotheby's Conditions of Business, which are available on request and printed in Sotheby's sale catalogues. The independent reports contained in this document are provided for prospective bidders' information only and without warranty by Sotheby's or the Seller."

We are grateful to Professor Claus Grimm for confirming that this is an autograph work by Frans Hals of circa 1633.

It is so catalogued in both the German and the subsequent English edition of his catalogue raisonné, but in the text of the latter (p. 28) it is wrongly described as a work by Hals with the original face removed and replaced by a copy.  The text is meant to refer to the three-quarter length portrait reproduced on the previous page (p. 27, figs 14d and details figs. 14a & 14c), but the translator (Jürgen Riehle) has confused them.  In his German text Professor Grimm cites the present work as an example of one of the many portraits by Hals that were later cut down in size from an original half- or three-quarter length, retaining the most important part, the face of the sitter.