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Research Log
A Close Friendship
Anneke van der Feer and Antonia van den Hoogen-Berlijn
by Isabella Legebeke
Anneke van der Feer, Self-portrait, oil on canvas, 73 × 60 cm. Collection Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam.
Van der Feer and Van den Hoogen and their connection to De Onafhankelijken
Van der Feer lived a dynamic and vibrant artistic life. Instead of attending household school, which was her parents’ wish, she left for Amsterdam at 22 to become an artist. Her oeuvre includes oil paintings, charcoal drawings, lithographs and watercolors. She painted according to reality, in the style of De Nieuwe Zakelijkheid (New Objectivity). Common themes of this style include portraits, still lifes, cityscapes and landscapes; everyday moments in the lives of people with a less visible position in society, such as day laborers in Amsterdam, washerwomen in France, turf-cutters in Drenthe and factory workers in Moscow. A communist and fierce opponent of national socialism, Van der Feer attached great importance to women’s independence and gender equality and campaigned for women’s emancipation.
In 1927, Van der Feer joined the prominent artists’ association De Onafhankelijken (the Independent Ones). The association turned away from prevailing views on art and culture and, with its jury-free exhibitions, strove for complete artistic freedom. Organizing these exhibitions was in line with their pursuit of political freedom, as it allowed multiple art movements to be represented. In the early years, works by international avant-garde artists from such countries as Germany and France were shown, including Wassily Kandinsky and Marc Chagall. At the 1929 exhibition, for example, Van der Feer’s work was exhibited together with that of Hannah Höch. Between 1926 and 1944, Van der Feer’s work was on display at several exhibitions of De Onafhankelijken at the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam. In the 1920s and 1930s, De Onafhankelijken organized annual spring and fall exhibitions here. The spring and fall exhibitions of 1931 were curated by Van der Feer and Hatterman (fig.1).
Among the organizers of De Onafhankelijken was Harmen Meurs. Earlier, Van der Feer had apprenticed with him, and both painted numerous cityscapes of Amsterdam. Perhaps getting acquainted with Meurs may have helped make Van der Feer’s work known to a wider audience.
Fig. 1. Catalogues of the spring and fall exhibitions, curated by Anneke van der Feer and Nola Hatterman, 1931.
Barbara Antonia van den Hoogen (Baarn, 1901 – Soest, 1998) was a good friend of Van der Feer and often modeled for her paintings. Family and friends also called her “Tonia” or “Toni”. Her family came from the area of Baarn. Van den Hoogen had trained to be a seamstress at household school. In the 1920s, Van den Hoogen moved to Amsterdam. Here, she was maid to artist Charley Toorop, but later also managed Toorop’s household and handled her finances. In 1932, Van den Hoogen married Franciscus Paulus (Frans) Berlijn, who was a master silversmith and taught handicraft and drawing at a Higher Civic School in Amsterdam. He was the son of a watchmaker and jeweler from Utrecht. Both Antonia and Frans had an eye for applied art. This is evident from the interior of their house. It was completely decorated in a modern style, with bare boards, woven reed mats and homemade furniture in the style of Rietveld.
Van den Hoogen too was a member of De Onafhankelijken in Amsterdam. The group often organized parties and celebrations, at which Van der Feer and Van den Hoogen were both present. A photo from the family archives – of Kiek Halewijn’s birthday party with members of De Onafhankelijken – shows Antonia in the far back left (fig.2). The second man from the left in the foreground (with eyes closed) is her husband. Although Van der Feer is not mentioned by name on the back of the photo, she is presumably the woman putting an arm around Van den Hoogen’s shoulder.
Fig.2. Creator unknown, birthday party of Kiek Halewijn with members of De Onafhankelijken, including Netty and Kiek Halewijn, Nel Knoop, Willy and Greet Lacroi, Henk Narriet and Tom, Puck Voute (far right, resistance fighter in famous children’s home Amsterdam and later in camp Vugt, Friedel, Heleen Ernst, Claus, Voskuil, Miep van Brakel and Frans and Toni Berlijn (Toni far left on photo), January, 1936.
The family also told us that Antonia van den Hoogen once traveled to Paris with Charley Toorop and that Toorop knew Van den Hoogen’s husband, Frans Berlijn. According to the family, Toorop encouraged Van den Hoogen to marry Berlijn. The knowledge newly gained through the family members raised new questions about the beginning of Van den Hoogen’s affiliation with the artists’ society in Amsterdam: when did she enter the network of De Onafhankelijken? Could she have joined the group via Toorop? Or was she already part of this circle before and perhaps met Toorop there? Or was her husband, master silversmith Frans Berlijn, a member and did she join through him?
During World War II, Van den Hoogen was active in the Resistance. On the North Holland Archive’s website, she is listed as one of the Women of the Resistance. Van den Hoogen and Berlijn sheltered the 12-year-old Jewish boy Max Vlessing at their home on Lijnbaansgracht in Amsterdam. Later, Max was given shelter in Friesland. Thanks to their help, he survived the war. The couple are listed in the Register of the Righteous Among the Nations at Yad Vashem in Israel, a register of non-Jewish people who helped Jews during World War II.
One photo album and three works
The family photo album contains both photos of the Van den Hoogen family and photos of Van der Feer (fig.3).
Fig.3. Photo album of the Van den Hoogen family.
Fig.4. Maker unknown, Portrait of Anneke van der Feer. Part of the photo album of the Van den Hoogen family, undated.
Fig.5. Ad Windig, Anneke van der Feer at work in her studio at the Oudezijds Achterburgwal 192 (3rd floor), undated.
The vase seems to recur in the still life with fish, which is on display in the living room of the Van den Hoogen family (fig.6).
Fig.6. Anneke van der Feer, Still life, 1927, oil on canvas. 95 x 75 cm.
Also hanging in the family’s living room is a watercolor by Meurs, called De Bretonse vissers (the Breton Fishermen); a watercolor by Fernhout, and a charcoal drawing by Jan Toorop (father of Charley Toorop, and also a well-known artist). The family informed us that at the age of 12, Fernhout painted a flowering plant for Van den Hoogen, perhaps out of gratitude and love for her care (fig.7). The flowering plant is reminiscent of a poinsettia because of its tall red star-shaped leaves. On the charcoal drawing, Jan Toorop depicted his granddaughter Annetje Fernhout. This little portrait is signed “Annetje mijn kleindochtertje (Annetje my granddaughter), Jan Toorop 1924”.
Fig.7. John Fernhout, bloemenplantje, date unknown, watercolour on paper (left); Jan Toorop, Annetje mijn kleindochtertje, 1924, charcoal on paper (right).
A group portrait, not from the family archives, shows Fernhout, Van der Feer and Joris Ivens together in Amsterdam (fig.8). Van der Feer met Ivens at Amstel 190, an artists’ center as well as Ivens’ home. Van der Feer began a relationship with Ivens and as can be seen in the photo, encountered Fernhout in his new home at Damrak 46, 3rd floor, who interned with Ivens in this period.
Fig.8. John Fernhout/Cheng Fai, John Fernhout, Joris Ivens en Anneke van der Feer op het dak van Ivens kamer, Damrak, Amsterdam (Joris Ivens and Anneke van der Feer on the roof of Ivens’ room), spring 1927. Collection Nederlands Fotomuseum.
Two portraits of Van den Hoogen
The family’s collection holds two portraits of Antonia van den Hoogen. The first portrait shows her in a gray coat with a fur trim, a black beret and short, curly blonde hair (fig.9). The background presumably shows the streets of Amsterdam. Her appearance is typical of the 1920s. Women sometimes wore “masculine” clothes, a style that emerged after World War I and which saw women beginning to wear slacks, symbolizing freedom and comfort. Van den Hoogen also wore a suit at her wedding.
Fig.9. Anneke van der Feer, Portrait of Tonia Berlijn-van den Hoogen, oil on canvas 58 x 58 cm.
The second work is a nude portrait (fig.10). In all likelihood, this is the same work Van der Feer showed at the 1931 spring exhibition of De Onafhankelijken. There are a number of possible reasons why the nude portrait ended up with the Van den Hoogen family. First, it is possible that the nude portrait was never sold. The family’s account revealed that Van der Feer herself was not commercially minded. On the other hand, it might have been a gift from the artist to Van den Hoogen, perhaps in gratitude for her modeling work.
Fig.10. Anneke van der Feer, Nude (Tonia Berlijn-van den Hoogen), 1931-36, oil on canvas. 92 x 65 cm.
Aunt Tonia as a nude model
In the early 20th century, it was taboo and unusual for women to paint a human nude, let alone a female nude. In addition, it was expensive to hire models. It was usually easier for artists to find models within their network of friends. The family’s account reveals that Van den Hoogen had no qualms about posing nude for Van der Feer, indicating a close friendship and trust. Van der Feer supposedly wanted to make the nude portrait to practice painting skin. Van den Hoogen reportedly had no problem with this. She is said to have remarked, “OK, then I’ll just sit over there, won’t I?” The way Van der Feer depicted her friend – respectful, confident and strong (fig.10) – differs greatly from the objectifying way male contemporaries would depict a female body. Van den Hoogen’s second cousins jokingly refer to the nude portrait as “Tante Tootje in haar blootje” (literally: ‘Aunt Tootje in her nudity’).
Another work by Anneke van der Feer from the collection of the Frans Hals Museum, entitled Vrouwenportret (Portrait of a Woman) (fig.11), shows similarities to the two portraits owned by the family. The woman depicted, about whom an informal title also suggests she was called “Mia,” shows stylistic resemblances to Van den Hoogen’s facial features. It is possible that Antonia had the nickname “Nia” and was also referred to as “Mia.” This leads to the following question: could this female portrait from the Frans Hals Museum therefore possibly also be Antonia? What’s more, the catalogue of the 1931 fall exhibition of De Onafhankelijken shows that a work called Mia was exhibited at the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam. Therefore, this work might possibly be the same Vrouwenportret. These open questions merit further investigation.
All in all, the fact that Van der Feer portrayed Van den Hoogen several times and the fact that these works eventually found their way to the Van den Hoogen family via Antonia, could indicate a close friendship between the two women.
Fig.11. Anneke van der Feer, Vrouwenportret (“Mia”?), 1931, oil on canvas. Collection Frans Hals Museum.
About the Author
Isabella Legebeke is studying a master’s degree in Art History at the University of Amsterdam, majoring in Modern and Contemporary Art. Last year, Isabella earned her first master’s degree (MA) in Cultural Economics & Entrepreneurship at Erasmus University Rotterdam. She completed an internship in the Curators and Research Department at the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, where she researched the museum’s visual arts collection and collection acquisition policy. Thanks to her varied study background and activities, she has accumulated experience in curating, research and cultural management. For example, at Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, where she curated a (digital) project with artists from Rotterdam. Isabella has also published an article in Hard//Hoofd magazine on the representation of female artists in Dutch museums.
