The Art of Henriette Ronner Knip

The Art of Henriette Ronner Knip

In my view, Dutch artist Henriette Ronner Knip's work is purrrr-cat. One of the best animal painters of her day, with her beautiful portraits of our feline friends she has made a name for herself.

Henriette Ronner Knip was a Dutch painter and is widely regarded as one of her century's finest animal painters, capturing the hearts of many with her romantic portrayals of cats and dogs in bourgeois sceneries. Henriette was born into an artist family in Amsterdam on May 3, 1821 under the intensive tutelage of her artist father, Joseph Augustus Knip, whose eyesight quickly faded. He deteriorating health meant she would become the family's sole provider, and she needed to learn quickly.

Henriette began painting at the age of 4 and at the young age of 16 she exhibited and sold her first painting in Dusseldorf, launching a successful career which eventually ended up supporting her 6 children and a sickly husband.

It is in 1845 that Knip's fame began to flourish with her sporting and canine works. It was around this time that she was commissioned to paint for many royals in Europe, including portraits by the Queen of Belgium owned lapdogs. The scenes that became increasingly popular among this class of society were paintings of scenes in the countryside and pictures of hunting dogs in forests, but this is not the subject matter that Knip enjoyed most.

Knip switched her attention to cat portraits, done in her usual dark tones, probably because of the adoption of her own feline friend, and happily witnessed another surge in popularity. When she aged her colors some lightened, probably because of the Modernist movement that was gaining momentum at the time.

Henriette Ronner Knip lived until she was 81 years old. She has won scores of awards for her artwork, silver and gold throughout her lifetime. She even received the Cross of Order of Leopold II, King of Belgium, which was a very rare honor for a woman to receive in 1887. Surprisingly, she became the Knight of the Order of Orange Nassau, Netherlands, in 1909.

It's safe to say she certainly did her part in paving the way for a lot of female artists who came after her. So, as a small woman owned, artist run business, we're going to do our part to ensure that her art remains accessible and lives on in many homes.