Frans Hals: Maler des Lachens is a documentary film which was shown on German television (ZDF) in 2024.
In that year, it was shown on French and German television (arte).
The topic of this film is the life and work of the famous Dutch artist Frans Hals (1582 or 1583-1666).
Here is some basic information about this film:
** Writer and director: Frauke Schlieckau
** Narrator: Max Urlacher
** Language: German
** Subtitles: German
** Run time: 52 minutes
Several persons are interviewed in this film
Here are the names of the participants
Listed in alphabetical order
** Glenn Brown – a British artist
** Taco Dibbits – director of the Dutch National Museum, Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam
** Erik Eising – a scientific worker at the Picture Gallery, Berlin
** Philipp Hübl – a German philosopher, University of Stuttgart
** Arthur Japin – a Dutch writer
** Katja Kleinert – a curator at the Picture Gallery, Berlin
** Friso Lammertse – a curator at the Dutch National Museum, Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam
** Benjamin Moser – an American writer, winner of the Pulitzer Prize
** Tamar van Riessen – a junior curator at the National Dutch Museum
** Marrigje Rikken – director of collections and exhibitions, Frans Hals Museum, Haarlem
Frans Hals is a contemporary of Rembrandt (1606-1669) and Vermeer (1632-1675).
These three famous painters lived and worked during the Dutch Golden Age (1588-1672)
This period corresponds more or less with the Eighty Years’ War, which is also known as the Dutch Rebellion (1568-1648).
Frans Hals painted more than one hundred paintings. Most of them are portraits, not only of rich and important persons but also of ordinary people.
Frans Hals is a remarkable artist, because many of the people who are painted by him are laughing or smiling. This was not normal. People who were painted were usually shown with a serious face. A laughing or smiling face was not regarded as appropriate for a portrait.
What was the occasion?
Why was this film about Frans Hals released in 2024?
The answer is:
The Dutch National Museum prepared a special exhibition in which a large number of works by Frans Hals would be presented in one location.
In this film, we follow the curators as they plan and prepare the special exhibition.
Other experts, who are interviewed, offer additional information about the artist and his works.
What do reviewers say about this film?
This question is not easy to answer
The film is listed on IMDb, but there is no rating.
There are no user reviews.
In my opinion, the story is important. It deserves to be told, and in this film, it is done quite well. We hear about the artist and his life. Some of his works are presented and discussed. This is fine. But not everything is good.
This film is flawed.
One significant topic is not covered.
What is missing?
Answer: the topic of theft.
The film comes very close to covering the topic of theft when it is pointed out that moving a famous painting from one museum to another museum is a very delicate operation.
Several persons must be present during the whole operation. One person is not allowed to be alone with the painting.
Why not?
If one person is alone with the famous painting, he or she might try to:
** damage the painting
** steal the painting
** switch the original painting with a modern copy
Having explained this fact, the topic of theft or attempted theft is dropped. It is never raised again. This means we are not told that there are two separate cases in which a Frans Hals painting has been stolen:
The first case
Five paintings - including one by Frans Hals - were stolen from a castle in Gotha, East Germany, in 1979.
For many years, this crime could not be solved. The five paintings disappeared. The statute of limitations expired in 2009. By that time, East Germany no longer existed. The two German states were united in 1990.
In 2018, there was an unexpected development. A lawyer contacted the mayor of Gotha and said he wanted to have a meeting face to face.
The lawyer explained he had been hired by a person or several persons who claimed they had inherited the five paintings. They were willing to sell them to the museum in Gotha. The price was more than five million euros.
This was a delicate situation. The mayor and the lawyer talked several times. The mayor said he was willing to pay the money (even though this was merely a trick).
But he insisted that the authenticity of the five paintings had to be verified by a technical laboratory.
The sellers accepted this condition. In 2019, the paintings were handed over to a technical laboratory in Berlin. An investigation showed the five paintings were genuine.
The paintings had successfully been recovered 40 years after they were stolen!
But the crime itself was not solved. It is still not known who committed the crime. It is still not known where the paintings were kept or stored during almost 40 years.
The second case
Two paintings - including one by Frans Hals - were stolen from a small museum in the Netherlands. Not only once. Not only twice. But three times!
The first time was in 1988
Fortunately, the paintings were recovered in 1991
The second time was in 2011
Fortunately, the paintings were recovered six months later
The third time was in 2020
Sadly, the paintings have not yet been recovered
Conclusion
Neither the first case nor the second case of theft is mentioned in this film. This is a flaw which cannot be ignored; which cannot be overlooked.
Since this film is about the life and work of the famous artist Frans Hals, it is obvious that a case of theft deserves to be mentioned.
I like this film, and I want to give it a good rating, but as you can see, there is a flaw.
I have to remove one star because of this flaw. This film deserves a rating of four stars (80 percent).
REFERENCES
# 1. Items available online
BBC staff
“Frans Hals masterpiece stolen for third time,”
BBC News
28 August 2020
Gareth Harris
“Frans Hals painting stolen from Dutch museum for the third time,”
The Art Newspaper
28 August 2020
# 2. Film and video
Der Coup von Gotha
Shown on German television (MDR)
16 November 2023
Run time: 30 minutes
Frans Hals: Gotha, 1979 – Die gestohlene Meisterwerke
Shown on German television (ARD)
05 September 2024
Run time: 88 minutes
Several short items about Frans Hals and his paintings are available on YouTube
# 3. Books
Frans Hals:
Style and Substance
By Walter A. Liedke
(2011)
Walter A. Liedke (1945-2015) was an American art historian. He was a curator of Dutch and Flemish paintings at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. He died in a train crash in 2015.
Frans Hals Portraits:
A Family Reunion
By Lawrence W. Nichols, Liesbeth De Belie, and Pieter Biesboer
(2018)
The Portraitist:
Frans Hals and his World
By Steven M. Nadler
(2022)
Frans Hals:
Master of the Fleeting Moment
By Jaap van der Veen, Friso Lammertse, and Bart Cornelis
(2023)
The Upside-Down World:
Meetings with the Dutch Masters
By Benjamin Moser
(2023)
*****
Frans Hals
Two laughing boys with a mug of beer
This painting has been stolen three times:
In 1988, in 2011, and in 2020
*****
Frans Hals
A man in a wide-brimmed hat
This painting was stolen in 1979
It was recovered in 2019
*****
Frans Hals
A young man and a woman
*****
Frans Hals
The lute player
*****
Frans Hals
A young woman
*****
Frans Hals
Malle Bappe
also known as
the Witch of Haarlem
*****
Frans Hals
A laughing fisher-boy
*****
Frans Hals
The banquet of
the officers of the militia
*****
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