Borëd | Artist Spotlight | Henriette Ronner-Knip

Henriëtte Ronner-Knip was a Netherlands painter who captured the hearts of many with her detailed scenes of cats, dogs and other animals. She was a Taurus born in Amsterdam on May 3, 1821. Her father was Josephus Augustus Knip (1777-1847), a famous artist and her sole educator of the arts. As his eyesight failed, Josephus taught Knip rigorously, knowing she would soon be the sole provider of the family’s income. At 16, she displayed her first painting at an annual art exhibition in Düsseldorf. She quickly sold that painting and continued to work in a swift, exact manner to produce as many paintings as she could. She began painting landscapes, portraits, castles, and genre paintings, but realized that she enjoyed painting animals most.

After 1845 the dogs became the main characters of her paintings. Critics did not stint on the praise of her painting technique. In 1850, she married Teiko Ronner and moved with her husband from Brabant to Brussels (Belgium), where they had six children. The first years of marriage, her husband was seriously ill, and Henrietta again became responsible for family income. She got up at five in the morning and tirelessly drew to earn a living. And these efforts were not in vain. Henrietta often depicted one of the distinguishing features of the lives of poor farmers and merchants — dog sleds, which were used for lack of sufficient horsepower. Such a vehicle was used throughout the XIX century. These works showed the influence of romanticism, and one of the best was written in 1860, “The Death of a Friend” (located in the Museum of Fine Arts in Brussels). The picture depicts an old trader who mourns the death of one of his dogs. After exhibiting this painting in Brussels, Henrietta Ronner-Knip gained a reputation as an animal painter and received a large number of orders from influential people, including the kings of Hanover, Prussia, Portugal and the Queen of Belgium, as well as portraits of her dogs.

Despite the growing popularity, she continued to live modestly and eventually shifted her attention to another beautiful pet. This happened after 1870, when a cat appeared in the artist's house and won the attention of the hostess with her movements, looks and relationships with each other, which was very surprisingly accurately reflected in her paintings. In addition, the theme of pets was very popular among middle-class citizens, and the paintings sold well. Henrietta Ronner-Knip moved in this direction, painting playful or sleepy cats, using all the same dark colors, while the surging modernist movement called her art boring and conservative. Most likely, this is what made her in her later paintings abandon the strictly built composition and use lighter tones.

Ronner achieved fame throughout Europe and her patrons included Don Fernando, King of Portugal and the Price of Wales. She exhibited at the Royal Academy in London between 1891 and 1903 and in the spring of 1890 she had an exhibition at the Fine Art Society. She is undoubtedly the finest 19th century painter of cats and her work is still in huge demand by collectors today. She died on March 2, 1909 in Brussels.

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