In the eighth episode of 'Frans Hals Paintings—The Podcast’, I discuss a painting titled 'The Rommelpot Player', which is in the collection of the Kimbell Art Museum; which it has been part of, since 1964. It was purchased by the Kimbells, in 1951. Seymour Slive numbered it five, in his 1974 Hals catalogue. Most Hals scholars name it a copy, or variant, or a replica, etc. Claus Grimm names it 'workshop'. In the work, a central figure, an older man, is prominent in the foreground, smiling broadly as he interacts with a group of children. He holds a rommelpot, drawing the viewer’s attention with his extended arm. He gazes left toward the viewer; with a ruddy complexion, full beard, and glinting eyes suggesting a moment of fleeting joyful. This is a difficult painting to appreciate, as well as visually decipher. But sustained looking offers unexpected nuances in finding variation, of attention to finish and detail in different patches across the canvas; the search being a true intellectual delight.

To learn more about the work, visit the Kimbell Art Museum website.

Learn more about the iconography of rommelpots, on Essential Vermeer.

Read the 2023 catalogue chapter 'Genre Paintings by Workshop Assistants, Based on Designs by Hals', by Claus Grimm.

You can find John on X ⁠⁠@johnbezold⁠⁠ and at his website ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠johnbezold.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

'Frans Hals Paintings—The Podcast' is published by ⁠⁠Semicolon-Press.