Coba Ritsema
An Eye for Colour
Date
19 September 2025 - 1 March 2026
Location
Frans Hals Museum
Audience
Adults
In the spotlight
The Frans Hals Museum is putting the spotlight on Haarlem artist Coba Ritsema (Haarlem 1876 - Amsterdam 1961). At a time when only one in five artists on average is female, Coba Ritsema enjoyed great success at home and abroad with her paintings and pastel drawings.
Portraits & still lifes
Around 1900, she was renowned for her portraits and still lifes, particularly for their beautiful and harmonious colours. She gained fame with tranquil depictions of girls seen from behind. These earned her rave reviews from art critics and won her important prizes at home and abroad, such as a major incentive prize from the Arti et Amicitiae artists' association in Amsterdam in 1900. She also painted her still lifes with strikingly free brushstrokes, which appeared sketchy but were in fact carefully thought out.
Contemporaries
The exhibition features a total of 35 works of art, both by Ritsema and her contemporaries, including George Hendrik Breitner (1857-1923), Lizzy Ansingh (1875-1959) and Kees Verwey (1900-1995). A large part of Ritsema's work has never been shown to the public before. In addition, historical images, including photographs of her studio, offer a glimpse into the position of female artists in the Netherlands at the beginning of the 20th century.
"Coba Ritsema did not break with prevailing conventions, but adapted them to her own needs. Within the clearly defined boundaries of what was possible for women in the Netherlands at that time, she excelled and achieved the highest possible level."
- Maaike Rikhof, curator of modern art
150th & 75th anniversary
In 2026, we’ll mark the 150th anniversary of her birth in Haarlem and the passing of 75 years since the Frans Hals Museum organised her grand anniversary exhibition. It’s the ideal time to bring this star artist from Haarlem back into the limelight.
