Frans Hals (Dutch, 1582/83–1666), The Van Campen Family in a Landscape (fragment), ca. 1623–25, oil on canvas. 151 x 163.6 cm. Toledo Museum of Art, Toledo, Ohio, inv. 2011.80.

TOLEDO - This exhibition is the first devoted to the family portraiture of Frans Hals (1582/83–1666), one of the foremost painters of the Dutch Golden Age. Organized by TMA and the Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium in Brussels, the exhibition was prompted by the Museum’s acquisition in 2011 of Frans Hals’s Van Campen Family Portrait in a Landscape, as well as the recent conservation of Brussels’ Three Children of the Van Campen Family. These two works originally formed one composition, separated for unknown reasons likely in the late 18th century or early 19th century. The exhibition reunites the sections of the Toledo/Brussels painting along with a third fragment from a private collection, which will be shown with the three other family portraits painted by the artist. After the exhibition is featured in the Toledo Museum of Art and the Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium, the exhibition will travel to the Fondation Custodia in Paris, France. 

Defining "Family"

Frans Hals’s fresh, charismatic images give the impression of real people with real relationships. The TMA installation of the exhibition will also incorporate the voices of Toledo community members. Taking the separation and reunification of the Hals Van Campen family portrait as a catalyst, a host of affiliated programs – including storytelling, art making and workshops – will address issues surrounding the shifting definition and evolving nature of families today.

 Frans Hals (Dutch, 1582/83–1666), Children of the Van Campen Family with a Goat-Cart (fragment), ca. 1623–25, oil on canvas. 152 x 107.5 cm. Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium, Brussels, inv. 4732. ©Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium, Brussels.

Proposed Reconstruction of Frans Hals’s complete The Van Campen Family in a Landscape. Liesbeth De Belie and Catherine van Herck. © Liesbeth De Belie and Catherine van Herck.

Frans Hals (Dutch, 1582/83–1666), Portrait of a Boy of the Van Campen Family, oil on canvas, about 1623–25. 54 x 47.4 cm. Private Collection.

 Frans Hals (Dutch, 1582/83–1666), Marriage Portrait of Isaac Massa and Beatrix van der Laen, ca. 1622, oil on canvas. 140 x 166.5 cm. Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, inv. SK-A-133. ©Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam.

Frans Hals (Dutch, 1582/83–1666), Family Group in a Landscape, ca. 1645–48, oil on canvas. 202 x 285 cm. Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid, inv. 1934.8. ©Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid

Frans Hals (Dutch, 1582/83–1666), Portrait of a Dutch Family, mid-1630s, oil on canvas. 111.8 x 89.9 cm. Cincinnati Art Museum, Cincinnati (Ohio), inv. 1927.399