The latest RKD Study, written by Prof. Dr. Claus Grimm, comprises a monograph on the life, work and reception of Frans Hals, and a comprehensive catalogue raisonné of the artist’s oeuvre. After the three monographic chapters have been published in November 2023, now also the complete catalogue raisonné has been made available online at www.rkdstudies.nl.

The first part of the RKD Study Frans Hals and his workshop comprises three monographic chapters on the life, work and reception of Frans Hals. Claus Grimm devotes particular attention to his theory on Hals’s workshop practice and the collaboration with other artists. The newly published second part is a comprehensive catalogue raisonné of all paintings made by Frans Hals and his studio assistants, including works that are only documented through copies or prints, paintings with less straightforward attributions, and modern imitations. To this end, all artworks that are featured in the catalogue have been included in the database RKD images, together with detailed attribution history, provenance information, and references to technical documentation and literature.

Thanks to new insights gained by technical research, as well as new possibilities for comparing and analyzing works of art in minute detail – using high-resolution digital photographs – Claus Grimm now distinguishes which paintings, or which parts of them, were executed by Hals himself and which were done by studio assistants. A large number of details is reproduced in the publication, providing insight into the arguments for accepting or rejecting specific attributions. The production of this RKD Study was an extensive project, undertaken by the RKD – Netherlandish Institute for Art History in collaboration with the Frans Hals Museum in Haarlem, and with the help of many enthusiastic colleagues from all over the world.