The Amsterdamse Joffers / Le Signore dell'Post-impressionismo Olandese

The Amsterdamse Joffers were a group of women artists who met weekly in Amsterdam at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century.

They supported each other in their professional careers.

Most of them were students of the Rijksakademie van beeldende kunsten and belonged to the movement of the Amsterdam Impressionists.

Each one became a successful artist.

Thérèse Schwartze (1851-1918)

Rachel Clearfield, 1946 | Magical realism painter

Born in England, Rachel Clearfield was a self-taught child prodigy.

As a young girl, she composed poetry and illustrated her poems with beautiful paintings.

After completing high school she decided on a career in art and was educated at the Newcastle College of Art and also the Manchester College of Art.

Henri Houben | Genre painter

Henri Houben (Antwerp, 1858-1931) was a Belgian genre painter.

He originally studied to be a violinist, but his interest in painting took the upper hand, so he enrolled at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts (Antwerp), where he studied under Charles Verlat.

He later assisted Verlat with his panoramic paintings ("March of the Russian Army" and "The Battle of Waterloo") and executed decorative paintings from designs by Albrecht De Vriendt in the Antwerp City Hall.

Mark Grantham, 1966 | Abstract painter

Mark Grantham was born in Halifax, Nova Scotia, where he continues to reside.

He has been painting full-time since 1996.

He grew up on Leeds Street in the city's north end, and completed his first oil on canvas at age 11.

After receiving Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Education degrees from Dalhousie University, Grantham went on to study architecture at the Technical University of Nova Scotia, from where he holds a Bachelor of Environmental Design Studies degree as well as a Masters degree in Architecture.

Nicolaas van der Waay | Genre painter

Nicolaas van der Waay (1855-1936) was a Dutch decorative artist, watercolorist and lithographer.

He worked in many genres, including stamp, coin and banknote designs.

He is perhaps best known for the allegorical illustrations he created for the Golden Coach and a series of paintings depicting the lives of girls from the Amsterdam Orphanage.

His work was also part of the painting event in the art competition at the 1928 Summer Olympics.

Coba Ritsema | The Amsterdamse Joffers group

Jacoba Johanna (Coba) Ritsema (26 June 1876, Haarlem - 13 December 1961, Amsterdam), was a portrait painter from the Netherlands.

Together with eight other artist friends, she founded an artists' association, which was introduced by the art critic Albert Plasschaert as the Amsterdam Joffers. The group of female artists contributed significantly to the acceptance of women in art at that time.

Jacoba, or Coba, was born in 1876 as the daughter of the book printer Coenraad Ritsema and his wife Jeanette (Jannetje) Moulijn in an artistic family with one sister and two brothers.

Marcel Dyf | Still life

French painter Marcel Dyf (1899-1985) noted for his portraits and bouquets of flowers, his inspiration for many compositions often came from his wife Claudine Godat, who posed for him and allowed him to immortalize the spirit of womanhood.

His pastoral scenes capture French countryside with unique color, light and vibrancy.

For an artist to be considered an "Impressionist" in the purest meaning of the word, he must know how to transfer his personal feelings to the canvas.

Gioacchino Toma | Genre painter

Gioacchino Toma (24 January 1836 - 12 January 1891) was an Italian art instructor and painter, noted primarily for historic, realistic and genre subjects in a Romantic style.

Toward the end of his life, Toma authored his autobiography, Memories of an Orphan (Ricordi di un Orfano, Giannini and Figli, 1886) relating a series of memories to his son, Gustavo: his difficult childhood; his tenacity; his desire for redemption; and his civil and political commitment.