The Frans Hals Museum bears the name of Haarlem’s most famous artist, but the museum is more than Frans Hals. The collection includes works by a great many other 16th and 17th century artists. In the rehang of the collection Haarlem Heroes: Other Masters, the Frans Hals Museum is showcasing these ‘heroes’ from its own collection in location Hof: Judith Leyster, Cornelis Cornelisz van Haarlem, Jan Porcellis, Salomon van Ruysdael, Pieter Fransz de Grebber, Jan Havicksz Steen and many more.
Gerrit Berckheyde, The Grote Markt in Haarlem, with the Grote or St Bavokerk seen from the West, 1696, Frans Hals Museum, On loan from the Cultural Heritage Agency of the Netherlands, photo: Tom Haartsen
Haarlem Heroes: Other Masters is a distinctive, contemporary presentation of the work of 16th and 17th century old masters. Based on topical themes such as gender, religion and background, it explores why artists can sometimes be ‘in’ and sometimes ‘out’.
Which artist had celebrity status and is now less well-known? What were or are the reasons for these artists’ success? What role did their origins or social status play? And what is the role of the museum and its visitors? In short, who decides whether something is ‘In’ or ‘Out’?
Campaign image Haarlem Heroes: Barbara Visser (2001) meets Pieter Gerritsz Roestraten (ca. 1665)
The Frans Hals Museum adds modern and contemporary accents with work by such artists as Lucebert, Jan Sluijters, Melanie Bonajo en Piet Mondriaan. By creating a transhistorical relationship between contemporary works from the collection and the old masters, the museum challenges its visitors to look differently so that they see more.
Judith Leyster, Portrait of an Unknown Woman, 1635, Frans Hals Museum, Acquired with support from the Rembrandt Association, photo: Margareta Svensson
