Frans Hals

Like all artists of the Baroque, Hals portrayed humans in everyday life, having human emotions. He brought a warm congeniality to his subjects. His portraits are realistic but, if one looks closely, one notices that his brushwork was suggestive at times - he was not using the normal, careful rendering of the day, but a technique which was far ahead of its time.

Important Works:
The Laughing Cavalier, 1624
Malle Babbe, ca. 1630-33

Birth: (sometime around) 1580, Micheln, Flanders or Antwerp
Death: September 1, 1666, Haarlem, Netherlands

Frans Hals and his paintings in Wikipedia
Frans Hals and his art in WebMuseum