Amsterdam University Press, in collaboration with the Frans Hals Museum in Haarlem, has recently published Frans Hals. Iconography – Technique – Reputation: the first volume in the new international academic book series Frans Hals Studies, richly illustrated with close to 200 color illustrations. The publication is edited by Norbert Middelkoop and Rudi Ekkart. Among the other authors are also a number of CODART members.

Frans Hals (1582/83-1666) is rightfully considered one of the most important seventeenth-century Dutch painters. His portraits are admired for their virtuoso brushwork and their seemingly spontaneous character. This volume, with fourteen contributions by 26 specialists on Hals’s paintings and his artistic network in Haarlem and beyond, presents a rich palette of new research.

The authors introduce subjects such as the artist’s clientele – from clergymen and fellow painters to governors of charitable institutions – as well as stylistic and technical aspects of individual paintings. Results of recent restorations are discussed, but also how advanced digital technologies contribute to our understanding of the painter’s style and artistic development. A final section is dedicated to the rediscovery of Frans Hals in the second half of the nineteenth century and to the following art historical debate among connoisseurs about the artist’s oeuvre.

In addition to a hardcover version, the volume is also available in open access.