Dirck Hals (19 March 1591 – 17 May 1656), born at

Haarlem Haarlem (; predecessor of ''Harlem'' in English language, English) is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Netherlands. It is the capital of the Provinces of the Nether ...

, was a

Dutch Golden Age painter Dutch Golden Age painting is the painting of the Dutch Golden Age, a period in Dutch history roughly spanning the 17th century, during and after the later part of the Eighty Years' War (1568–1648) for Dutch independence. The new Dutch Republi ...

merry company Merry company is the term in art history for a painting, usually from the 17th century, showing a small group of people enjoying themselves, usually seated with drinks, and often music-making. These scenes are a very common type of genre painting ...

scenes, festivals and ballroom scenes. He played a role in the development of these types of

genre painting Genre painting (or petit genre) is the painting of genre art, which depicts aspects of everyday life by portraying ordinary people engaged in common activities. One common definition of a genre scene is that it shows figures to whom no identity ca ...

. He was somewhat influenced by his elder brother

Frans Hals Frans Hals the Elder (, ; ; – 26 August 1666) was a Dutch Golden Age painter. He lived and worked in Haarlem, a city in which the local authority of the day frowned on religious painting in places of worship but citizens liked to decorate thei ...

, but painted few portraits.

Biography

According to Houbraken he was the brother of the painter

and was specialized in small paintings of "conversation pieces" or "merry companies" (Dutch: ''Gezelschapjes''), scenes of small groups drinking and enjoying themselves. The

writer

Samuel Ampzing Samuel Ampzing (24 June 1590 – 29 July 1632) was a Dutch minister, poet and purist. Biography Born to the minister Johannes Ampzing in Haarlem, in 1616 Samuel became a minister himself at Rijsoord in Strevelshoek, and in 1619 at the Si ...

mentions both brothers in his ''Praise of Haarlem'' with a poem stating that both brothers were exceptional; Frans painting his portraits "awake", and Dirck painting his figures "purely".