[Leopoldo Benavidez]

Nice job on the repro Karin! I love Frans Hals, even more so than the almighty Rembrandt, who ranks in there somewhere. Caravaggio is up there, if not first. Everytime I look at Hals in a museum, I am paused in total admiration of his work and the freedom of hand in his paintings. Sureness of brush strokes (visible), painterly, no blending, almost effortless. I love paintings that show this kind of skill. Hard to find today with everybody trying to emmulate a Bouguereau, with excessive blending, glazes, underpaintings, verdaccios, etc., that makes it very difficult to distinguish their individaul signatures from the other blenders. Hals is certainly a goal for many of us, I am sure.......L