Suze Robertson (1855-1922)

Suze ROBERTSON (The Hague 1855 - The Hague 1922)

Robertson was born on December 17, 1855 in The Hague, the youngest of a family of nine children. In 1874 she became a student of the Academy of Visual Arts in The Hague and obtained her MO-certificate in 1877. One of her fellow students was the well-known George Hendrik Breitner and together with him she felt more attracted to the impressionism of the Hague School than the classicist style that was still used as the norm in the training. From 1877 to 1882 lessons at the girls' HBS in Rotterdam. At that time she attended evening classes with a model class in the Rotterdam academy building. As the first woman to be admitted to this nude class, she caused quite a stir in the local newspapers. After all, she had many girls under her leadership. Between 1880 and 1882 she was taught by Petrus van der Velden in Wassenaar. He had become known for painting interiors with farmers or fishermen. In this studio she met her life companion Richard Bisschop. She was also temporarily in Rotterdam until 1882. Around that time she was offered a job in Amsterdam in which she was given more time to paint. After some time she stopped teaching and started painting full-time. In the autumn of 1884 she returned to The Hague until 1895. She joined the painters' association 'Pulchri Studio'. Then in Etten and Leur until 1898 and then again in The Hague. On June 23, 1892 she married painter Richard Bisschop. Their daughter Sara was born on February 10, 1894. From that moment she stopped painting for 9 years to fulfill her mother role. From 1903 daughter Sara was entrusted to others and she could start painting again. From 1896 to 1898, the family lived in the Brabant village of Leur, where they could live for free in exchange for drawing lessons. She painted in the area and her husband Richard painted local figures and church interiors in the churches of Leur and Breda. Later she got a studio on the Van Diemenstraat where she would continue to work until the last. From 1900 Suze Robertson took part in group exhibitions of the associations Arti and St. Lucas in Amsterdam and Pulchri in The Hague. We can also be seen at international exhibitions in Antwerp, Brussels, Munich, Düsseldorf, Paris, London, Venice, Rome, Barcelona, St.Louis and Buenos Aires. Her big breakthrough came between 1905 and 1906 at the exhibition of the Rotterdam Art Circle and in 1907 at an exhibition at the "Larensche Kunsthandel". Her daughter Sara returned home in 1905 and had meanwhile completed the secondary school drawing but worked with a totally different style from her parents. Sara Suzanne Eckhart's daughter would also opt for the art profession. In 1976 an exhibition of Moder, daughter and granddaughter, was held at art dealership Borzo in Den Bosch. She worked in The Hague, Blaricum, Leur 1896-1898, Heeze, Noordwijk, Harderwijk Zierikzee. She painted and etched (member of the Dutch Etching Club 1891) still lifes, landscapes, city views and figures. Works were purchased by the Gemeentemuseum in Arnhem, among others. She was a member of Pulchri Studio, Arti and St. Lucas.