Merry Company on a Terrace

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Merry Company on a Terrace

Artist Dirck Hals (Dutch, 1591 - 1656)

Place of OriginNetherlands

Date1623

DimensionsPainting: 13 3/4 × 15 3/8 in. (34.9 × 39.1 cm)
Frame: 15 3/8 × 21 1/4 × 2 in. (39.1 × 54 × 5.1 cm)

MediumOil on panel

ClassificationPaintings

Credit LineGift of The Georgia Welles Apollo Society

Object number

2018.30

Not on View

Label TextDirck Hals was a younger brother of the more famous painter Frans Hals. Dirck Hals specialized in genre scenes—fictionalized images of everyday life. His favorite subject was gatherings of wealthy couples at leisure, known as “merry companies.” Here, 10 small-scale figures interact on a terrace. The dandy in red and his partner attract the attention of many of the others. The not-so-subtle presence of a sculpture of Cupid at the upper right suggests that courtship and love may be central to this amiable social gathering.Published ReferencesNehlsen-Marten, B., Dirck Hals 1591-1656, Oeuvre und Entwicklung eines Haarlemer Genremalers, Weimar 2003, pp. 109, 263, 366.Exhibition HistoryBudapest, Musée des Beaux Arts, 1911.