The Female Impact: 17th Century Women on the Dutch Art Market

During the event, Judith Noorman, principal investigator of the project, will explore the nuanced perceptions of household spending in the Dutch Republic and England, reflecting on gender implications and social expectations. Piet Bakker will then explore women’s visibility in archival records, specifically in the context of Vermeer’s patrons. His research challenges longstanding narratives and offers fresh perspectives on female patronage in art.

Highlighting the achievements of Maria van Oosterwijck, Anna Lawrence will discuss how Oosterwijck navigated and leveraged both her specific situation, and that more widely impacted by her gender, in order to become an internationally renowned and financially successful painter. In a concluding segment, interns Iris Jocker and Anne Linde Ruiter will discuss their innovative approaches to integrating female perspectives within museum displays, drawing from their experiences at the Museum Prinsenhof Delft and the Rijksmuseum.

About the speakers

Judith Noorman is the Principal Investigator of The Female Impact and Associate Professor in Early Modern Art History at the University of Amsterdam. Together with Robbert Jan van der Maal, she authored a book on a woman who was the best-documented art consumer of the Dutch Golden Age, irrespective of gender (Amsterdam University Press, 2022).

Anna Lawrence is a PhD candidate of The Female Impact research project. She analyses the fluctuations in value, reputation, and collecting practices of art made by women in the Netherlands from 1600 to 1900, using surviving works in museum collections. Her approach is informed by her experience in museums and auction houses, as well as a Master’s degree from UCL, which focused on critical approaches to art history.

Piet Bakker is a postdoctoral researcher in The Female Impact research project. He has served as a researcher for the Leiden Collection in New York, Delft University of Technology, and the Museum of Fine Arts of Belgium. He has authored multiple publications on topics related to the art market, painter communities, painter networks, and organizations like the Guild of St Luke.

Anne-Linde Ruiter is an MA student in Arts of the Netherlands at the University of Amsterdam and has studied Art, Market and Connoisseurship at the Vrije Universiteit. During her second Master’s degree, she completed internships with The Female Impact and Women of the Rijksmuseum, researching women in the collection and revising the labels for seventeenth-century exhibits.

Iris Jocker is an MA student in Arts of the Netherlands at the University of Amsterdam. During her internship at the Female Impact and the Museum Prinsenhof Delft, she researched seventeenth-century women in the museum’s collection, including Johanna van Frijtom, Elisabeth van Adrichem, and Anna van den Queborn. Jocker published on Anna van Ewsum in Gouden Vrouwen (WBooks 2020).