Louisa Holthuysen

Sandrina Louisa Geertruida Holthuysen (1824 – 1895) was a Dutch art collector and founder of the Museum Willet-Holthuysen in Amsterdam.

Louisa Holthuysen
Miniature portrait of Louisa Holthuysen with her Maltese lion dog, c. 1840-1860
Born	28 November 1824 Amsterdam
Died	30 January 1895 Amsterdam
Nationality	Kingdom of the Netherlands

Biography

Holthuysen was born in Amsterdam in the Netherlands as the only child of Pieter Gerard Holthuysen, a wealthy merchant who dealt in window glass and coal. Her father died in 1858 and in 1861 she married Abraham Willet and they proceeded to live a bohemian lifestyle, enjoying travel and art collecting. The art collection included items bought by her, of which the most expensive painting was a still-life by Blaise Alexandre Desgoffe that cost 5,000 guilders.

Holthuysen died childless in Amsterdam in 1895, a few years after her husband. Her house and its contents, including the artworks, were left to the City of Amsterdam, conditional upon the building being used as a museum named after her and her husband.

Gallery

• 
  Still-life by Blaise-Alexandre Desgoffe
• 
  The parlour of the Willet-Holthuysens in their summer villa in Le Vésinet, by Coen Metzelaar
• 
  A Young Mother in the costume of the Campagna by William-Adolphe Bouguereau
• 
  Louise Holthuysen, ca. 1864
• 
  The parlour of the A. Willet-Holthuysen house, Herengracht 605, by Willem Steelink Jr., 1882

Further reading

• vam Eeghen, I. H. (1952). "1952 MAANDBLAD JAARGANG 39" (PDF). Maandblad Amstelodammum (in Dutch) (39). Het museum Willet-Holthuysen: 81–86. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2017-02-17. Retrieved 2017-02-22.

External links

• Museum Willet-Holthuysen (Dutch)