Haarlem genre painting: Dennis P. Weller visits an exhibition focussing on the artistry of Frans Hals and his contemporaries

Apollo, March, 2004 by Dennis P. Weller

In many respects, 'Satire and Jest: Genre Painting during the Age of Frans Hals' falls short of the expectations one associates with the promise of pictures by Frans Hals, Judith Leyster, Jan Steen, and others. While the Frans Halsmuseum and the Hamburger Kunsthalle, organisers of the exhibition, gathered some important loans--four by Frans Hals (only two shown in Haarlem), four Willem Buytewechs, and examples by Leyster, Jan Miense Molenaer, and Steen--many lesser pictures too often intrude, particularly those by Dirck Hals, Adriaen van Ostade, Isack van Ostade, others in poor condition (nos. 32, 36), and a few questionable attributions (nos. 12, 23, 30). The exhibition and its catalogue appear to have been casualties of budget cuts. Planned loans from American public and private collections were missing, and the catalogue lacks the depth usually associated with Frans Halsmuseum publications.

The exhibition in Haarlem begins with a fine selection of merry, company pictures by Esaias van de Velde, and especially Willem Buytewech. In assembling four of Geestige ['witty'] Willem's most important paintings (Fig. 3), the show's organisers give the master the attention he deserves as one of the innovators of Dutch genre. His early merry companies, as a text panel correctly notes, 'warn against excesses, the allure of love and temptation of sensual pleasure'.

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The core of the exhibition follows in four galleries devoted to pictures by Frans Hals and members of his circle. In many respects, this material covers the same ground as the more successful Leyster exhibition of 1993. (1) The first of these galleries is devoted to Frans Hals' younger brother, Dirck, whose compositions reflect the direction pioneered by Buytewech and Van de Velde. His work is very uneven, and even at its most ambitious level (no. 11), his "neat little figures' reveal a competent rather than an innovative master. (2)

More interesting is the next gallery, where Frans Hals shines and Judith Leyster bravely competes, Leyster came close to matching Hals' brilliance in her Two children with a cat (Fig. 1), but elsewhere she shows her true calling with more intimate scenes such as the charming Girl with a lute (no. 27). Jan Miense Molenaer assumes prominence in the next two galleries, in the first, his pictures appear alongside low-life scenes executed by the Fleming Adriaen Brouwer during his activity in Haarlem. With the exception of Gypsies reading hands in a village (no. 30), a painting whose attribution is questionable, Molenaer consistently avoids the coarse, biting edge of Brouwer's peasants in favour of comic figures conveying more sophisticated and complex messages (Fig. 2). Under the banner of merry companies, the next gallery finds Molenaer paired with Hendrick Pot. Here, Molenaer's diversity is seen with a group portrait, a merry company, and a composition based on the popular play Lucelle. (3) By contrast, Pot's less interesting examples follow a narrower path, inspired by the merry companies of Buytewech and others.

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Had the exhibition ended with this material, as appears to have been the organisers' initial intent, then many of its unresolved issues might have been avoided. The desire to showcase Jan Steen's activity in Haarlem during the 1660s necessitated the inclusion of pictures by the low genre painters Adriaen and Isack van Ostade to bridge the gap. With one or two exceptions, the Ostades are poorly represented and easily overlooked in a corridor gallery devoted to peasants, fairs, and quacks. Pictures by Jan Steen follow, some great (nos. 54, 55, 56) and some not so great (nos. 53, 59), unavoidably hung in two eighteenth-century galleries.

With the inclusion of the Ostades and Steens, the exhibition expanded into an overview of Haarlem genre painting between 1610 and 1670. (4) These additions prompt questions regarding deletions (for example Comelis Bega), and more important, how broadly can Haarlem genre be defined? Should Jan Steen be considered a Haarlem painter? While the organisers limited Steen's contributions to works from his activity in the city, the same was not the case for Buytewech and Van de Velde, who left Haarlem by 1617 and 1618 respectively) This issue becomes crucial with regard to Molenaer's peasant scenes painted shortly after he left Haarlem in 1637 and during periodic returns to the city. Had this body of work been reflected by more than a single example (no. 38), then a better understanding of peasant genre painting at mid-century, as well as the relationship between Adtiaen van Ostade, Molenaer, and ultimately Jan Steen, may have resulted.

One expects that some of the issues noted above would be addressed in the exhibition catalogue. Again, lack of funding seems to have affected the final product. The essays and catalogue entries, while well written and informative, are brief and offer few comparative illustrations. Artist biographies were omitted, and there is little attempt to provide a broader overview of Haarlem painting and/or Dutch genre. Essays by exhibition curators Pieter Biesboer and Martina Sitt introduce the material, with the former commenting on popular themes such as the merry company, children playing, and peasant genre, and the latter on key artists Frans Hals, Molenaer, and Steen. In spite of brevity, it still would have been worthwhile to see illustrated and discussed pictures such as the Banquet in a park, c. 1610 and variously attributed to both Frans Hals and Willem Buytewech. (6) While limited in scope, the authors" essays and the individual catalogue entries do contribute to a better understanding of these painters and the importance of their contributions.