Bertha van Hasselt (1878-1932)

Swedish Ivy

1907

Oil on canvas

Monogrammed lower right B.v.H 1907

Dimensions: 24 x 21 cm

Frame: 38 x 35.5 cm

 

Condition:

In good condition

 

Provenance:

(Most likely) private collection of H.P. Bremmer,

Private collection of Rudolf Bremmer 1956 (Inventory list RKD),

Art dealership & Mediation agency Interbellum,

Private collection Leiden.

 

Information:

Bertha van Hasselt (Zwolle 1878 - 1932 Nijmegen) was a Dutch painter, draftsman, and graphic artist. She received her education at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in The Hague and exhibited in 1913 at the exhibition "De Vrouw 1813-1913" while living in Hees near Nijmegen.

 

Her brush embraced the diversity of life - from church interiors to cityscapes, from portraits to enchanting flower still lifes. Her portraits, including those of Henk Bremmer, Julie de Graag, and Gerard Heymans, are characterized by their restrained modesty and tenderness. Her still lifes, especially, were praised, in which she expressed all her qualities. Critics wrote at the time: "[Bertha van Hasselt's] flower still lifes testify to inner purity and refinement."

 

The above work is an exemplary and very early example of her still life art, in which she paints the Swedish Ivy in a ceramic pot with as much refinement and precision as her portraits.

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Van Hasselt came into contact with H.P. Bremmer through the artist Corrie Pabst. Her bond with Henk Bremmer was intimate, and she lived and worked exclusively within the circle around Bremmer, which also became her own circle. She formed close friendships with Egte van Wissekerke, Jo Koster, and Julie de Graag. This intimate work has hung on the wall of the Bremmer family for decades, as evidenced by source material in the RKD.

 

Van Hasselt's work was purchased by Helene Kröller Muller for the current Kröller-Müller Museum and can also be found in the collections of the Drents Museum and the Rijksmuseum Amsterdam, among others.