My great grandfather

My great-great grandparents had six children, three boys and three girls. Their third child was my great grandfather, the painter.

When I found this picture on the internet (totally by coincidence), I recognized him immediately (front row, 2nd right). It was taken on the occasion of my great-great grandparents' 40th wedding anniversary (1891).

I contacted the person who put this picture on the internet and he appeared to be a descendant of one of the girls. He gave me some really valuable information and he also sent me the email address of somebody else, who appeared to be a descendant of the youngest daughter of the family (thank God for the internet!).

One week before Christmas there was a cd in my mailbox, full of old family pictures.The oldest picture, the painter as a young boy, dates from around 1870 probably. It is the only picture I have ever seen of him without a moustache.

He was quite a handsome man. 
My grandfather, his youngest child, looked so much like him.
These old photos are priceless (thank you Johan)!

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Anna Lammerdina Hofkamp

When I opened an unexpected parcel on 

Thursday morning, my heart skipped a beat...

 

The postal tube contained a couple of chalk drawings

and some papers about my 

great-grandfather (the painter), among them a copy of my

great-greatgrandparents' marriage certificate.

 

 

But what I loved most was this pencil drawing. 

I had seen it before as an image in a booklet about 

my great-grandfather's work,

but I didn't know that the original 

drawing still existed in our family.

 The drawing shows my great-greatgrandmother,

(painted by her son) at the age of 73.

Her name was Anna Lammerdina Visser-Hofkamp, 

the woman behind the marriage certificate.

I suddenly became very curious about her.

Who was she and what was her life like

all those years ago?

With her maiden name and the exact date

of her wedding, I was able to find a lot of information.

Her life had a very sad start. 

Her mother gave birth to two sons, in 1827 and 1828, who 

were born dead or died immediately after birth.

Anna Lammerdina was born in 1830, but her mother

died in the same year at the age of only 29. 

I suppose she died in childbirth. 

What a tragedy! 

Losing two children and dying giving birth to number three!

So Anna Lammerdina grew up never knowing

her mother and her brothers.

 

She married Jan Visser in 1851, the father 

of my great-grandfather, at the age of 21.

He was a "kunstlakker", a brush-painter 

(that's where the creative genes come into the family!).

Her first child was born in 1852. 

 She gave birth to six children, three boys and three girls. 

Her first son was named Klaas, after her 

husband's father and her dead brother.

Her second child, a daughter, was named Lucretia, 

after the mother she never knew.

Her third child was named Jan, like his father. 

He is my great-grandfather.

She gave birth to another son and two more girls.

Her last daughter was named Anna Lammerdina,

after herself.

As far as I can see they all lived.

Her husband died in 1906 at the age of 78 

and Anna Lammerdina herself died in 1917 

at the age of 87. 

Perhaps she is looking down on me

from heaven...who knows?!

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Travel journal from my great-grandfather

Can you imagine how surprised I was when I found this booklet in my mailbox?!

It is a small travel journal written by my great-grandfather, the painter, in 1908 when he travelled to London. It is more than 100 years old. He was about my age when he wrote it. How cool is that! What a treasure! I love it!

 



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Lithograph

Some weeks ago I was contacted by somebody from the Netherlands who had read my postings on an art forum about my search for my great-grandfather's legacy (long live the internet!). He bought a drawing at an auction in Belgium and he wanted to know if I was interested. I WAS! To make a long story short.....we found out that his son lived in the same city where my mother lives, so she went there to pick it up. I have to be very patient because our next visit to the Netherlands will probably only take place end of the year, but I am very excited. Actually, it is a lithograph, not an original drawing. It says "To my former student W.P.(?) Mulder - 1933". I'd like to find out who this Mr. Mulder was!

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Duinveste

In search of my "creative roots", I recently found out that my great-grandfather, the painter, built a house not far away from the sea, with the elegant name "Duinveste". This was around 1920, so he must have been in his 60s already. His oldest son, my grandfather's brother, architect and violin builder, made the plans for his father's house. And guess what...yes, there is a picture! When I started googling, I found an article in a magazine about the house and the family that is living in it today. They renovated it completely and they invited us to come and visit them anytime. We are certainly planning to accept their offer next time we are in the Netherlands!

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Engagement photo

I love these old sepia photos!
This is my great-grandparents' engagement photo.
Look at the beautiful dress and the hats! So cool!

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The painter - my great-grandfather

I have blogged before about my great-grandfather who was an artist, a talented painter. This morning I took the time to make some scans of a booklet dedicated to him and his work on his 80th birthday. He was born in 1856 and died in 1938.



^ Self portrait - drawing signed and dated October 1926 (70 years).



^ Self portrait - oil painting unsigned.



^ Oil painting signed and dated 1936 (80! years old). My grandfather looked just like his father.



^ Portrait from his wife - oil painting unsigned.



^ His son Karel (my grandfather!) - drawing signed and dated 6th April 1934. He was a violinist and pianist. He died at the age of 99.



^ His son Jan (architect and violin maker) - drawing signed and dated 1928.



^ His father - oil painting unsigned (can you imagine, he is my great-great-grandfather).



^ His mother (my great-great-grandmother) - drawing 15th augustus 1903.

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Strawberries

Some months ago, my mother gave me a sketch made by my great-grandfather. We took it out of the frame to have it professionally framed and look what was behind the sketch! It is a very old advertisement on a piece of cardboard and it must be about a hundred years old. Because it was covered with the sketch, the colours are still amazingly bright. I couldn't throw it away.

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My great-grandfather

It has been some time since I last blogged about my great-grandfather J. Visser Jr. (see my left sidebar).
Today I want to show you an article in a dutch newspaper from 1905. My husband found it on Ebay Belgium, isn't that cool? It tells about the 25th anniversary of the Art School in Amsterdam. He was the Head of this school during that time and the picture shows him in his studio. I think he was really a good looking man and above all a gifted artist!

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