Portrait of Esther de Boer-Van Rijk
Person depicted Esther de Boer - Van Rijk (1853-1937)
Artist Albert Hahn (1877-1918)
Medium Lithograph
Year 1916
With four portraits and a bust, Esther de Boer - van Rijk is a mainstay of our portrait gallery. That is no surprise, because Esther was a significant and remarkable actor. A Jewish actor from Rotterdam, she came to Amsterdam with her husband, a musician, and grew into a great performer and theatre director. Her collaboration with Herman Heijermans gave her roles in which she could draw on her socially engaged background. The portraits by Eduard Frankfort and Foeke Kamstra show her claim to fame: Kniertje, in Op hoop van zegen. The master forger Han van Meegeren also portrayed her, as Eva Bonheur (another play by Heijermans), and Gerrit van der Veen made the kindly little statuette.
