Henriette Ronner-Knip (Dutch 1821-1909)
The daughter and pupil of Neo-Classicist painter Josephus August Knip, Henriette Ronner-Knip gained notoriety early on as a landscape and still life painter. Her long and prolific career began with her first exhibition in Germany at the age of fifteen. By 1852, her work appeared regularly at the Paris salons and throughout England.
Knip moved from her native Amsterdam, Holland, to Brussels, Belgium, with her husband in 1859. There she concentrated on animal scenes, using dogs and cats as her inexpensive models. Nearly always set in the lush Belle Epoch interiors of the time, Knip’s animal paintings quickly became celebrated for their individualistic, almost human characteristics. By 1870, she was painting cats and kittens exclusively. Knip became a member of the Royal Society and officer of the Order of Leopold in 1877. An album of her work was published in concurrence with the 1891 Berlin World’s Fair.
The Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, the Gemeentemuseum in the The Hague, and many museums in England include her works in their collections.