Johanna Koerten
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Joanna Koerten, (married name Joanna Block) (17 November 1650 in
Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...
– 28 December 1715 in Amsterdam) was a
Dutch Dutch or Nederlands commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands ** Dutch people as an ethnic group () ** Dutch nationality law, history and regulations of Dutch citizenship () ** Dutch language () * In specific terms, i ...
artist who excelled in painting, drawing, embroidery, glass etching, and wax modeling. She achieved fame as a
silhouette A silhouette (, ) is the image of a person, animal, object or scene represented as a solid shape of a single colour, usually black, with its edges matching the outline of the subject. The interior of a silhouette is featureless, and the silhouett ...
cutter, the art of creating outline images from pieces of cut paper mounted on a contrasting background. She produced landscapes, seascapes, flowers, portraits, and religious scenes in this medium. Her clients included
Peter the Great Peter I (, ; – ), better known as Peter the Great, was the Sovereign, Tsar and Grand Prince of all Russia, Tsar of all Russia from 1682 and the first Emperor of Russia, Emperor of all Russia from 1721 until his death in 1725. He reigned j ...
of Russia, Frederick Elector of Brandenburg,
Johan de Witt Johan de Witt (24 September 1625  – 20 August 1672) was a Dutch statesman and mathematician who was a major political figure during the First Stadtholderless Period, when flourishing global trade in a period of rapid European colonial exp ...
and
William III of England William III (William Henry; ; 4 November 1650 – 8 March 1702), also known as William of Orange, was the sovereign Prince of Orange from birth, Stadtholder of County of Holland, Holland, County of Zeeland, Zeeland, Lordship of Utrecht, Utrec ...
.Joanna Koerton
at the Dinner Party database of notable women. Brooklyn Museum. Accessed April 2011.
Koerten, Joanna
Huygens Institute for Dutch History, 07/04/2009 . Accessed April 2011
Joanna Koerten
Foundation Digital Library for Dutch Literature ( DBNL). Accessed April 2011


Biography

She was the daughter of Jan Koerten (1622–1651), a
Mennonite Mennonites are a group of Anabaptism, Anabaptist Christianity, Christian communities tracing their roots to the epoch of the Radical Reformation. The name ''Mennonites'' is derived from the cleric Menno Simons (1496–1561) of Friesland, part of ...
cloth merchant, and his wife Ytje Cardinaels, who was from a well-known and wealthy family in Amsterdam. (d. before October 25, 1691). Her father died when she was one year old. Her mother remarried Rosijn Zacharias in 1659, also a cloth merchant. Joanna only married in 1691 after her mother and stepfather had died, when she was 41 years old. Her husband was Adrian Block, who, just like her father and stepfather, was a cloth merchant. He was of
Mennonite Mennonites are a group of Anabaptism, Anabaptist Christianity, Christian communities tracing their roots to the epoch of the Radical Reformation. The name ''Mennonites'' is derived from the cleric Menno Simons (1496–1561) of Friesland, part of ...
background. They had no children. He was an avid supporter of her artwork, supported her house museum, and promoted her work long after her death. From a young age she sat apart from other children and showed an interest in depicting what she saw around her, things both animate and inanimate. She gained fame as an artist working out of her husband's shop at No. 137 Nieuwendijk Amsterdam, which served as a gallery of her work. It was a house museum dedicated to her work as well, named ''The Blok.'' Peter the Great honored her with a visit in 1697 in the company of Mayor Witsen. ''The Blok'' was frequented by many other artists, poets, and other royals such as Cosimo de Medici. According to Houbraken, she could carve scenes on glass with a diamond, embroider and weave silk creations, pouring wax creations, lace-making and watercolor painting.Johanna Koerten Biography
in ''De groote schouburgh der Nederlantsche konstschilders en schilderessen'' (1718) by
Arnold Houbraken Arnold Houbraken (28 March 1660 – 14 October 1719) was a Dutch people, Dutch Painting, painter and writer from Dordrecht, now remembered mainly as a biographer of Dutch Golden Age painters. Life Houbraken was sent first to learn ''threadt ...
, courtesy of the Digital library for Dutch literature
According to the
RKD The Netherlands Institute for Art History or RKD (Dutch: ), previously Rijksbureau voor Kunsthistorische Documentatie (RKD), is located in The Hague and is home to the largest art history center in the world. The center specializes in document ...
, she was known as a or
papercut A paper cut occurs when a piece of paper or other thin, sharp material slices a person's skin, often on the upper part of the index finger. Similar injuries caused by things other than paper may also be referred to as "paper cuts". Paper cuts c ...
artist and
draftsman A drafter (also draughtsman / draughtswoman in British and Commonwealth English, draftsman / draftswoman, drafting technician, or CAD technician in American and Canadian English) is an engineering technician who makes detailed technical drawi ...
.Johanna Koerten
in the
RKD The Netherlands Institute for Art History or RKD (Dutch: ), previously Rijksbureau voor Kunsthistorische Documentatie (RKD), is located in The Hague and is home to the largest art history center in the world. The center specializes in document ...
Joanna Koerten died on 28 December 1715 aged 65, and is buried in the Oudezijds Chapel, Amsterdam. After her death her gallery continued as a place of interest to artists and a visitors book kept by her surviving husband shows the names of many notable artist and poet visitors, both during her lifetime and beyond. Among them are artists
Gerard de Lairesse Gerard or Gérard (de) Lairesse (; 11 September 1641 – June 1711) was a Dutch Golden Age painter and art theorist. His broad range of skills included music, poetry, and theatre. De Lairesse was influenced by the Perugian Cesare Ripa and ...
, Melchior Hondecoeter and
Nicholas Verkolje Nicolaas Verkolje or Vercolje (11 April 1673, Delft – 21 January 1746, Amsterdam), was a Dutch painter and mezzotinter. He specialized in history pieces and portraits in a classicistic style. Biography He was the son of Jan Verkolje and ...
; calligraphers Jacob Gadelle, and Mary Strick; and poets , John Brandt, Gesine Brit and Katharina Lescailje.


Technique

Koerten's paper cutting technique imitates the high art characteristics of oil painting and sculpture of the 17th century. She focused to create the effect of the textural and perspectival nature of painting while at the same time achieving the monumental nature of sculpture. She emphasized the pictorial and illusionistic aspects of paper cutting, making her an innovative artist of her time as compared to typical paper cut art with delicate interlaced and calligraphic strands. She used a wide variety of cut shapes to more accurately imitate the appearance of gradually ''chiaroscuro'', similar to painting. In her portrait of ''Peter the Great'' (c.1697), she portrays varying textures and contrast shown in the rough stonework through small slits as well as in Peter's armor shining in dark wedge cuttings contrasting against the white paper. Peter's fur ermine cape utilizes cutting techniques created with sharp spiked cuts, soft molded carvings, and short, ragged snips. Koerten's ''Frederik III'' shows linework depicting a deeper illusion of interior space in her use of linear perspective. Textured stonework and shimmering fabrics are also shown in this work along with curved, sweeping cuts resembling the appearance of hair.


Works

Only fifteen of her works survive. The existence of others can be inferred from descriptions in old auction lists. For a description of her oeuvre see: ''Catalogus van een overheerlijk konstkabinet papiere snykonst, door wylen Mejuffrouw Koerten, huisvrouw van wylen Adriaan Blok, met de schaar in papier gesneden ''(Amsterdam ca.1750). Examples of her work can be seen in the
Stedelijk Museum De Lakenhal Museum De Lakenhal is the city museum of fine art and history in Leiden, Netherlands. Founded in 1874, its collection ranges from early works by Rembrandt van Rijn and Lucas van Leyden's ''Last Judgement'' to modern classics of De Stijl and artwork ...
(Leiden), in the Koninklijke Bibliotheek (The Hague), in (Loosdrecht) and in
Westfries Museum The Westfries Museum, in Hoorn, Netherlands, is a history museum of 17th century Hoorn and the region. History The museum was opened on 10 January 1880 and has been established in a monumental building dating to 1632. The museum building origi ...
(Hoorn).


References

Biographies about Joanna Koerten:
Joanna Koerten
Universal biography by John Lemprière, Publisher E. Sargeant, 1810 *AJ van der Aa, Biographical Dictionary of the Netherlands. Volume 10 (1862) *PJ Block and PC Molhuysen, New Netherland biographical dictionary. Volume 10 (1937) *K. ter Laan, Literary Dictionary for North and South (1952)


External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Koerten, Johanna 1650 births 1715 deaths 17th-century Dutch women artists Painters from Amsterdam Dutch Golden Age painters Dutch women painters Silhouettists