Boy Playing a Flute

genre

Leyster's teacher is undocumented. Although she was one of Frans Hals's most gifted followers, there is no documentary evidence that she was apprenticed to him, but visual evidence suggests she may have worked with him for a time in some capacity. She learned as much from Dirk Hals as from Frans Hals's motifs and style.

Loading map…

About the Artist

Judith Leyster

1609 – 1660

Dutch painter of genre scenes, portraits, and still-life, probably a pupil of Frans Hals in Haarlem, where she spent most of her career (she also worked in Amsterdam). In 1636 she married Jan Miense Molenaer, with whom she shared a studio, using the same models and props. Leyster was one of Hals's best followers and her work has sometimes passed as his, an example being the Lute Player in the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam. Her monogram includes a star, a play on 'Ley/ster' (lode star).

View all works →