City of
Frans Hals
Meet 17th-century Haarlem master painter Frans Hals
Visit the Haarlem of
Frans Hals
Haarlem is a city with an impressive history. Painter Frans Hals is one of the inhabitants who wrote it. An icon who left his mark on the city. Because, make no mistake, he was one of the greatest painters of his time, along with Rembrandt and Vermeer. A master, who in the course of his life developed a style all his own. With his loose brushstrokes, he created paintings that seemed to move, portraits that splashed off the canvas. He was also a true Haarlemmer, who loved his city. His footprints are everywhere.
From February 16, 2024, the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam will host the "Frans Hals" exhibition. Even during the exhibition period, Haarlem will continue to have much to see and discover about the life and works of Frans Hals.
Discover the life of
Frans Hals
Frans Hals at the Rijksmuseum
February 16 - June 9, 2024
Exceptionally innovative, entertaining and daring, Frans Hals was one of the most defining painters of the 17th century. His idiosyncratic, loose style of painting became so influential that you would almost forget that he was the founder of this. Discover the strokes of Frans Hals in a unique exhibition featuring some fifty works from top (inter)national collections at the Rijksmuseum (Museumstraat 1, Amsterdam).
Visit the exhibition on your own, take a guided tour or listen to a lecture that puts Frans Hals' art in perspective alongside contemporaries, making his unique approach stand out.
Frans Hals walk
Discover for yourself the Haarlem of Frans Hals, because in addition to being a master painter, he was also a true Haarlemmer who loved his city. His footprints are everywhere and the Frans Hals walk takes you through the life of this iconic painter.
The route can be purchased at VVV Haarlem (Grote Markt 2) or downloaded from this page.
It is also possible to take a walk with your own group led by an expert VVV city guide. For more information, contact VVV Haarlem (023-5317325 or info@vvvhaarlem.nl).
The Frans Hals walk is a collaboration between Frans Hals Museum and Haarlem Marketing.
Frans Hals Podwalk
You can also learn about 17th-century Haarlem master painter Frans Hals through a free audio walk. Where did he live and work? Who were his patrons? What was his life like in Haarlem? And why are his portraits and depictions of people so full of life and movement?
The podwalk (to be listened to on your own cell phone) starts at the Frans Hals Museum and takes you through, among other places, the Grote Markt (where Hals is buried in the Grote or St. Bavo Church and where, until the opening of the Frans Hals Museum, the city exhibited works by Hals in the Town Hall) to the Oude Doelen (now the library, but in the 17th century the clubhouse of one of the militia for which Hals painted his world-famous militia paintings).
Frans Hals Museum
The Frans Hals Museum has the largest collection of works by Frans Hals in the world. Even during the Frans Hals exhibition at the Rijksmuseum, 15 paintings by Frans Hals are still on display at the Frans Hals Museum. Among them are three of his world-famous militia paintings with the last and also largest militia painting from 1639 featuring the (under-)officers of the Haarlem Saint George militia with the only self-portrait we know of by Frans Hals.
Download the
Frans Hals walking tour
Squabbling painters on
a royal soccer field
In the time of Frans Hals, another famous painter lived in Haarlem. Who? Judith Leyster. If you look at her work, you can see clear influences of Frans Hals. And let that be the very painter with whom she once had a "quarrel.
Cruise with
Frans Hals
Discover Haarlem from the water as well during a canal cruise with tour boat Frans Hals or Pieter Teyler. You will experience the city very differently from the water. During a 50-minute "tour of Haarlem" you sail past the most beautiful sights, including Teylers Museum, Frans Hals Museum and KoepelKathedraal Haarlem. Along the way, the captain tells you the best facts.
Wigbolt X
Frans Hals Museum
Haarlem-based Bar Wigbolt has a cocktail menu based on the Frans Hals Museum's collection. "When you look at a painting you keep seeing something new that catches your attention. We want to do the same with these drinks: whoever takes a sip of one of our cocktails always discovers something new" Thus, at Bar Wigbolt you can order the cocktails 'Frans 1582' or 'Appelwangen old fashioned', among others.
Cocktails with a loose touch
From the Southern Netherlands many people came to our city. Among them the Hals family, consisting of father François, mother Adriana and their sons Joost, Dirck and Frans. The latter, still a toddler at the time, grew to become one of the most important painters in Dutch history.
