Merry Company on a Terrace

1625

Dirck Hals

Associated Names
Dirck Hals

Painter, Dutch, 1591 - 1656

This painting shows four individuals gathered together. They all have light skin and are elaborately dressed. On the far left is a woman with golden curls, a gold necklace, and a crown-like headpiece playing a lute. She wears a vibrant red dress with a white bodice and lace on the sleeves and neckline. On top of it is a green shawl with braided straps. On the right is a man with curly hair wearing a large, tan hat adorned with a white-and-blue plume, a tan doublet with blue feathers or fabric down the middle, tan shorts, and white stockings tied with blue ribbons above blue shoes. He plays a large cello. To the right are two people standing with their arms interlaced. The one on the left is a man with a large black hat with a pink feather, wearing a black shirt with a wide white collar, black shorts, and pink stockings. The woman next to him has an orange hat with a yellow feather and wears a blue gown with a stiff white collar, yellow sleeves, and a yellow sash. The bottom of her dress is embellished with gold. The four people are standing outside on a gray-and-white striped floor. Behind them, on the left, are tables set with white cloths and a lavish feast, including a large golden goblet and the top half of a large bird set atop what looks like a pie crust. A boy dressed in tan garments bends down to pick up a plate from one of the tables. Behind the tables are tall trees with green leaves, and on right is a calm body of water. The sky is light blue and full of white clouds.

Media Options

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On View

West Building Main Floor, Gallery 50

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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    oil on panel

  • Credit Line

    The Lee and Juliet Folger Fund

  • Dimensions

    overall: 38.7 × 51.5 cm (15 1/4 × 20 1/4 in.)

  • Accession Number

    2020.11.1

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

Mr. Bryant, Bristol; (his sale, Bristol, 27 April 1848); purchased by Humphry Willyams [1792-1872], Carnanton House, Mawgan-in-Pydar, Cornwall.[1] Joseph H. Carter [1862-1937], London, in 1896/1898 or later;[2] by descent in his family; (sale, Christie, Manson & Woods, London, 19 April 1985, no. 43); (Richard Green Fine Art, London); sold 1985 to Maida and George Abrams, Newton, Massachusetts; purchased through (Sotheby's, New York) March 2020 by NGA.
[1] Catalogue of the Antient [sic] and Modern Pictures in the Collection of Humphry Willyams, Esq. at Carnanton, Cornwall, London, 1871: 92, no. 38. According to this self-published catalogue, Willyams purchased two other paintings at the 1848 sale, and he also gives the sale date as April 23. Mr. Bryant and his sale have yet to be identified.
[2] Carter was a British painting conservator, dealer, and artist. A label on the reverse of the panel includes the address (58 Bond Street) at which he appears in London trade directories, and also includes the notation of catalogue number 203. Carter was also known as J. Purves Carter, the "Purves" being his mother's maiden name. For a detailed biography, see: https://www.npg.org.uk/research/programmes/directory-of-british-picture-restorers/british-picture-restorers-1600-1950-c, accessed 28 May 2020.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1992

  • Prized Possessions: European Paintings from Private Collections of Friends of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 1992, no. 71, pl. 53.

2002

  • The Poetry of Everyday Life: Dutch Painting in Boston, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 2002, repro.

2021

  • Clouds, Ice, and Bounty: The Lee and Juliet Folger Fund Collection of Seventeenth-Century Dutch and Flemish Paintings, National Gallery of Art, Washington, 2021, no. 25, repro.

Bibliography

1871

  • Catalogue of the Antient [sic] and Modern Pictures in the Collection of Humphry Willyams, Esq. at Carnanton, Cornwall. London, 1871: 92, no. 38.

2003

  • Nehlsen-Marten, Britta. Dirck Hals, 1591-1656: Oeuvre und Entwicklung eines Haarlemer Genremalers. Weimar, 2003: 267, no. 31, 368 ill. 102.

Inscriptions

lower right on base of column, the DH in monogram: DHALS ANo 1625

Wikidata ID

Q108686501

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