Dirck Hals

Baron Anselm von Rothschild, Vienna (as "Drei spielende Kavaliere");
Baron Alphonse de Rothschild, Grüner Salon, Theresianumgasse, Vienna (inv. AR416);
Seized from the above and allocated for the Kunstmuseum Linz (inv. 9349);
Restituted to the Austrian government, Kremsmünster depot, 1946;
Restituted from the above to Baroness Clarice von Rothschild, 1947;
With Frederic Mont, New York, 1949;
With Galerie Kraus, Paris, 1976;
With Newhouse Galleries, New York;
From whom purchased in 1978 by the family of R. Stanton Avery, New York;
Sold ("Property from the R. Stanton Avery Foundation"), New York, Christie's, 22 May 1998, lot 170;
There purchased by the present collector.

W. Bode, Studien zur Geschichte der Holländischen Malerei, 1883, p. 123;
Weltkunst 12, 1976, advertisement Galerie Kraus, Paris;
B. Nehlsen-Marten, Dirck Hals 1591-1656, Oeuvre und Entwicklung eines Haarlemer Genremalers, Weimar 2003, p. 285, cat. no. 151, reproduced p. 382, fig. no. 147;
B. Schwarz, Hitlers Museum. Die fotoalben Gemäldegalerie Linz: Dokumente zum 'Führermuseum', Vienna, Cologne & Weimar 2004, Katalog-Album III-9, p. 106 and p. 223, illustration III/9;
F. Kunth, Die Rothschild'schen Gemäldesammlung in Wien, Vienna, 2006, pp. 188 and 189;
S. Lillie, Was Einmal War, Vienna, 2003, p. 1018.

The following condition report has been provided by Simon Parkes of Simon Parkes Art Conservation, Inc. 502 East 74th St. New York, NY 212-734-3920, simonparkes@msn.com , an independent restorer who is not an employee of Sotheby's. This panel is unbroken and completely flat. There is a very thin addition to the panel running across the bottom edge beneath the feet of the standing figure which appears not to be original and another addition running across the top which is also not original. Under ultraviolet light there are no retouches visible because the paint layer is dirty. When the picture is cleaned a few old retouches will become more apparent in the floor and possibly in the background, but the figures and the remainder of the picture seem to be very healthy condition. The additions seem to be cosmetically driven and it is not necessary for them to be retained.
"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."

This convivial gathering of fashionably dressed men in the heat of a tric trac game is a marvelous early example of the work of Dirck Hals.  Signed and dated 1626, this important composition is vibrant in color and mood and is beautifully preserved. Hals was a painter of genre scenes, particularly of geselschapies 'merry companies', which were very popular during the first half of the seventeenth century and first introduced to Haarlem by Willem Buytewech. 

Dirck Hals, the younger brother of Frans Hals, was born in Haarlem in 1591. His rapid painterly technique shows the influence of his brother, but the most notable stylistic influences on his work were those of Willem Buytewech (who lived in Haarlem from 1612-1617) and Esaias van de Velde (who lived there from 1610-1618). The somewhat elongated figures within a rather small format directly reflect those of Buytewech.  The marvelous treatment of the costumes and the shimmering silks clearly betrays the influence of his older brother. It is interesting to note that while today Frans Hals is far more revered than his younger brother, in their own day they were seen by many as equals excelling at different artistic styles.  Samuel Ampzing, writing in 1628, stated, "Come Halses, Come forward and take a place here that rightfully belongs to you./  How nimbly Frans paints people from life!/ What neat little figures Dirck knows how to give..."¹

Hals assimilated a style that drew both on Buytewech and his brother Frans; his interiors often, as here, composed around a centrally positioned table with elegant figures posed around it playing a game of tric-trac while smoking and drinking. The scene is one of boisterous indulgence. Hals inclusion of empty oyster shells in the foreground alludes to the dangers of a salacious life of gambling and excess.

Dirck Hals is known to have worked from preparatory figure drawings and oil sketches on paper, a rather uncommon practice for a Dutch painter of this time.  The many figures that recur in his works in similar poses can be explained by this working method. For example, variants of the standing figure here portrayed in a green satin vest is depicted in different costume but the same exact stance in other tric trac scenes by Hals such as A Merry Company in a Palatial Interior sold by Christie's, January 29, 1998, lot 17.

The present work belonged to the prestigious Viennese banker and art collector Baron Anselm von Rothschild and was then passed to Baron Alphonse de Rothschild who hung it in his Grüner Salon at his home Theresianumgasse in Vienna.  It was seized by the Germans during the war and designated for the Kuntmuseum Linz.  After the war it was restituted to Baroness Clarice von Rothschild, 1947.

We are grateful to Dr. Michael Hall for his assistance with the cataloguing of this lot.


1.  S. Slive, Frans Hals, I, 1970, p. 6