Johannes Frederik Hulk Sr. (9 January 1829 – 12 June 1911) was a Dutch painter,

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 ...

, photographer, and owner of a paint supplies store.

Life and work

Hulk was born 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 ...

in 1829. He was the youngest son of the merchant Hendrik Hulk and his English wife Mary Burroughs. He received painting lessons from his older brother

Abraham Abraham (originally Abram) is the common Hebrews, Hebrew Patriarchs (Bible), patriarch of the Abrahamic religions, including Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. In Judaism, he is the founding father who began the Covenant (biblical), covenanta ...

and from Kasparus Karsen. As a painter he mainly painted

landscape A landscape is the visible features of an area of land, its landforms, and how they integrate with natural or human-made features, often considered in terms of their aesthetic appeal.''New Oxford American Dictionary''. A landscape includes th ...

seascape A seascape is a photograph, painting, or other work of art which depicts the sea, in other words an example of marine art. The word originated as a formation from landscape, which was first used for images of land in art. By a similar de ...

s, cities, villages, and harbors. He gave painting lessons to his son Johannes Frederik "John" Hulk Jr., and to Bernard de Hoog,

Bertha Müller Bertha Mathilde Müller (28 October 1848, Vienna - 26 January 1937, Vienna) was an Austrian portrait painter.

, and

Elias Stark Elias ( ; ) is the hellenized version for the name of Elijah (; ; , or ), a prophet in the Northern Kingdom of Israel in the 9th century BC, mentioned in several holy books. Due to Elias' role in the scriptures and to many later associated traditi ...

. He was a member of the artists' society ''

Arti et Amicitiae Arti et Amicitiae (lat .: For Art and Friendship) is a Dutch artist's society founded in 1839, and located on the Rokin in Amsterdam. The Society (also called Arti for short) has played a key role in the Netherlands art scene and in particular in ...

'' in Amsterdam. Hulk was not only a painter, but also a draftsman and owned a painting and drawing supplies store, ''De Rembrandt'' ("The Rembrandt"), on the ''

Rokin The Rokin is a canal and major street in the centre of Amsterdam. The street runs from Muntplein, Amsterdam, Muntplein square to Dam Square, Dam square. The Rokin canal used to run from Muntplein square to Dam Square, but in 1936, the part between ...

'' in Amsterdam. After the advent of photography, he trained himself in this new discipline. Together with his partner, Pieter Vlaander, he ran a

photographic studio A photographic studio is often a business owned and represented by one or more photographers, possibly accompanied by assistants and pupils, who create and sell their own and sometimes others’ photographs. History Since the early years of th ...

called ''Rembrandt'', also on the ''Rokin''. They worked together as the photographic studio Hulk & Vlaander until 1867. They also opened a studio on the ''

Geldersekade The Geldersekade is a canal and a street in Amsterdam that connects the Nieuwmarkt with the Prins Hendrikkade. The Geldersekade is in the easternmost part of De Wallen, the red light district, and borders Chinatown. Location To the west, Ell ...

'' in

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , ; ; ) is the second-largest List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city in the Netherlands after the national capital of Amsterdam. It is in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of South Holland, part of the North S ...

. Hulk lived and worked most of his life in Amsterdam and in the nearby Sloten. After 1901 he lived successively in

Vreeland Vreeland () is a village in the Dutch province of Utrecht. It was a part of the former municipality of Loenen. Since 2011 it has been part of the new formed municipality of Stichtse Vecht. It is located on the river Vecht, about 2 km nort ...

Abcoude Abcoude () is a town and former municipality in the Netherlands, in the province of Utrecht. Since 2011 it has been part of the municipality of De Ronde Venen. Population centres The former municipality of Abcoude consisted of the villages of A ...

and

Haarlem Haarlem (; predecessor of ''Harlem'' in English language, English) is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Netherlands. It is the capital of the Provinces of the Nether ...

. Hulk was married twice. From his first marriage to Hermine Cornelie Auguste Mulder, he had a daughter Betsy (1853–1903) and a son John. After the death of his first wife in 1866, he married his housekeeper Margaritha Bakker in 1868 in

Muiden Muiden () is a city and former municipality in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. It lies at the mouth of the Vecht (Utrecht), Vecht and is in an area called the Vechtstreek. Since 2016, Muiden has been part of the new municipality ...

. He died in 1911 in Haarlem. He is buried at the family cemetery in

Muiderberg Muiderberg () is a village in the municipality of Gooise Meren in the Netherlands. It lies about 6 km north of Bussum and 2 km west of Naarden, adjacent to the Naarderbos. Geography Muiderberg is in the east of the municipality of ...

Gallery

File:Hulk_View_of_Amsterdam.jpg, A view of Amsterdam, c. 1880 File:Hulk_a_canal_in_amsterdam.jpg, A canal in Amsterdam, c. 1880 File:Gracht_in_amsterdam_Hulk.jpg, A canal in Amsterdam, c. 1880 File:Hulk_Amsterdamse_binnenhaven.jpg, View of Amsterdam's inner harbor, c. 1880 File:Hulk_marktdag.jpg, Market day outside the

Waag WAAG ( FM 94.9 MHz), known as FM 95, is a radio station licensed for Galesburg, Illinois, United States. The station is owned by Galesburg Broadcasting Company. The station has a country music Country (also called country and western ...

on the

Nieuwmarkt Nieuwmarkt (; ) is a square in the centre of Amsterdam, Netherlands. The surrounding area is known as the Lastage neighborhood. It is situated in the borough of Amsterdam-Centrum. The square is considered part of Amsterdam's Chinatown, next ...

, Amsterdam, c. 1880 File:Hulk_Platbodems.jpg, Moored

barge A barge is typically a flat-bottomed boat, flat-bottomed vessel which does not have its own means of mechanical propulsion. Original use was on inland waterways, while modern use is on both inland and ocean, marine water environments. The firs ...

s unloading, oil on canvas, c. 1880 File:Hulk_Spaarne.jpg, A view of the

Spaarne The Spaarne is a river in North Holland, Netherlands. This partially canalized river connects the Ringvaart to a side branch of the North Sea Canal. It runs through Haarlem, Heemstede, and Spaarndam. The historic canals of Haarlem's moats are c ...

, Haarlem, c. 1880

Exhibitions

Hulk held exhibitions of his photographic work at the '' Paleis voon Volksvlijt'' ("Palace of Industry") in Amsterdam in 1865, and in the ''Prentenkabinet'' ("Print Room") at the

University of Leiden Leiden University (abbreviated as ''LEI''; ) is a public research university in Leiden, Netherlands. Established in 1575 by William, Prince of Orange as a Protestant institution, it holds the distinction of being the oldest university in the Neth ...

References

Biographical data about Johannes Frederik Hulk Sr.
on the website of the

Netherlands Institute for Art History 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 ...

*Allgemeines Künstlerlexikon ("Artists of the world"): Hulk, J. F. *Leijerzapf, Ingeborg Th
Johannes Frederik Hulk sr.Obituary of J.F. Hulk
''Het nieuws van den dag'' ("The news of the day"), 15 June 1911 {{DEFAULTSORT:Hulk, Johannes Frederik 1829 births 1911 deaths 19th-century Dutch photographers 19th-century Dutch painters 20th-century Dutch painters Painters from Amsterdam Dutch draughtsmen Dutch landscape painters Dutch male painters 19th-century Dutch male artists 20th-century Dutch male artists