Earlier in the year, along with curator Bart Cornelis and other guests of the National Gallery, I headed to Haarlem and followed in the footsteps of Frans Hals (he who painted the Laughing Cavalier, and many other incredible portraits), in anticipation of the first major retrospective of his work in more than 30 years.
We visited the conservation studios at both the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, and Frans Hals Museum in Haarlem, discovering the detail in his work through this amazing opportunity to see the paintings, un-lit, up-close and at eye-level. We walked the streets of his beautiful city, through the courtyards and passageways he would have passed, and saw glimpses of what would have been his life, his home.
I wrote about 48 Hours in Haarlem with Frans Hals for Homes and Antiques magazine. A full six page feature of many of my favourite things about the city. Take the tour of the November issue here, and if you like it (I do!), you can subscribe to the magazine here.
You can see The Credit Suisse Exhibition: Frans Hals, showcasing over 50 of Frans Hals’ finest works, at the National Gallery London until 21 January 2024 (or later on in Amsterdam, then Berlin).
I was a guest of The National Gallery and Visit Netherlands.
If you’d like to keep up with what I’m up to work-wise (talks, events, exhibitions, that kind of stuff), you can find my Agenda on my website. And, if you’d like occasional updates about all sorts of other nice things, in your inbox, you can join my mailing list here.