Art News

First ever overview of painted partying in the Golden Age at the Frans Hals Museum

HAARLEM.- This winter it is party time in the Frans Hals Museum. Celebrating in the Golden Age showcases a highly popular subject in seventeenth-century art. Painters like Jan Steen and Frans Hals portrayed countless merry-making folk and lively companies, from peasant fairs and carnival celebrations to lavish al fresco parties, processions and civic guard banquets. The exhibition in the Frans Hals Museum circas 45 paintings, including masterpieces from its own collection and loans from such leading institutions as the Metropolitan Museum (New York) and the Gemäldegalerie (Berlin). Celebrating in the Golden Age runs till 6 May 2012. The exhibition presents the first ever overview of painted partying in the Golden Age. Alongside many enchanting paintings by important seventeenth-century artists, visitors will see a wide range of narrative scenes conveying what is often a sly or humorous view of the standards and values