The next not-to-miss exhibition at the Rijksmuseum: Frans Hals

The Dutch masters where instrumental and influential in the art world. From Rembrandt to Vermeer and Frans Hals to Van Gogh, each has left an unforgettable mark on the world through their art. Each is highly deserving of an exhibition dedicated to their work, and so we come the newest temporary exhibition at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam.

After the sold out exhibition on Johannes Vermeer in 2023, the Rijksmuseum has a dedicated exhibition on Frans Hals in 2024. With the help of 48 paintings, around a quarter of the known Frans Hals paintings in the world, the museum explores Frans Hals’ painting style. His distinctive brush strokes set the standard for many who followed.

The exhibition shows you how his style developed over time, with more precise strokes in his early career and broad strokes in later years. His style was a stroke of genius, as it gained him praise and prestige, and made him a forerunner of impressionism. He painted real people, both rich and poor, nobility and sexworkers, and everyone in between.

The exhibition is set up in the Philips wing of the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, this is on the opposite side of the museum from the cafe and shop. The exhibition will be on from 16 February to 9 June 2024 and requires a special ticket. This special ticket allows you entrance to both the Frans Hals exhibition and the rest of the Rijksmuseum.

The exhibition is a collaboration with the National Gallery in London and the Gemäldegalerie in Berlin. The exhibition travels between the three museums, which each explores a different theme of the artist’s work. The exhibition was in London from 30 September 2023 until 21 January 2024, and will be in Berlin from 12 July until 3 November 2024.

The 48 paintings in the exhibition come from all over the world. Of course, there are works from the three organising museums. Such as the Young man holding a Skull from the National Gallery, and Catharina Hooft and her Nurse and Malle Babbe from the Gemäldegalerie.

But there are also others, some of which have never left their permanent homes before. Like The Banquet of the Officers of the St George Civic Guard, which has never before been seen outside of Haarlem, comes from the Frans Hals Museum in Haarlem. And The Laughing Cavalier from London’s Wallace Collection, the Family Group in a Landscape from Museo Thyssen-Bornemeisza in Madrid. Others come from The Metropolitan Museums of Art in New York, the Collection Art Gallery of Ontario in Canada, the Národní museum in Prague, and some private collections.