Frans Hals (Dutch, Antwerp 1582/83–1666 Haarlem), The Smoker, ca. 1623–25. Oil on wood, Octagonal, 18 3/8 x 19 1/2 in. (46.7 x 49.5 cm). Marquand Collection, Gift of Henry G. Marquand, 1889. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 89.15.34. © 2000–2016 The Metropolitan Museum of Art. 

Hals's mature works are highly original, characterized by his contemporaries as belonging to a "rough" style of painting. This approach requires the viewer's active engagement, as the intentionally rough brushwork functions best only from a certain distance, with the reward of figures "so alive it seems as if they would address the onlooker," as one early Hals biographer wrote. That is certainly the impact of this early genre piece, with its wonderful sense of life in the young man and his laughing companion. 

This work is exhibited in the "Unfinished: Thoughts Left Invisible" exhibition, on view through September 4th, 2016. #MetBreuer