When the 4th Marquis of Hertford purchased the ill-named Laughing Cavalier for an unprecedented sum in 1865, he made Frans Hals a household name: before that he was unknown to the general public, like so many 17th Century artists. Since then the portrait has been an essential 'must-see' for every visit to The Wallace Collection. Nevertheless, it is being leant - for the first time - to the National Gallery, where it will play an important part in a ground-breaking exhibition, the first major retrospective of Hals' work in thirty years. 

Since the 4th Marquess's purchase, Hals has consistently been held in high repute among the cognoscenti, but over recent decades has fallen below the horizon in popularity stakes. This exhibition should change that - even if the public response won't hit the levels of mass hysteria provoked by his younger contemporary Johannes Vermeer earlier this year. Hals' portraits are fresh, immediate, and unnervingly informal - a telling contrast with the reputation of the 17th Century Dutch as strict Calvinist killjoys. The apparent spontaneity of the poses and the breath-taking freedom of Hals' technique - sometimes a few rapid brushstrokes suffice to portray complex forms and richly varied textures - brings his sitters to life, gives them character, and projects them into the same space as ourselves.

 While Vermeer, the 'Sphinx of Delft', is praised for his calm, meditative approach, Hals, a native of Haarlem, somehow has the knack of making his subjects relevant to our own time, their immediacy and presence somehow all the more appropriate in the age of social media and mass communication. This truly is an exhibition not to be missed!