Gegoten met behulp van een mal.

The corners and bottom edge have sustained damage.

…; from the sitter presented or bequeathed to Th. van Leeuwen, c. 1970; by whom, donated to the museum, 1974

Object number: BK-1974-3

Credit line: Gift of T. van Leeuwen

The sculptor Bartholomeus Johannes Wilhelmus Maria (‘Bart’) van Hove (1850-1914) made the model for this austere portrait of Anna Carolina van der Togt – then about twenty years of age – probably in or shortly before 1904, the year in which the bust was first exhibited, at the Amsterdam art society Arti et Amicitiae. The portrait is highly characteristic of the sculptor’s work. Born into an artistic family in The Hague and later to destined to become one of the most successful society sculptors in the Netherlands at this time, Van Hove’s renown as a portraitist began to flourish with a series of royal commissions, which – ensuing Queen Wilhelmina’s coronation in 1898 – earned him the title of beeldhouwer der koningin (sculptor to the queen) (cf. BK-B-115 and BK-2004-9).¹¹Notice placed in De Courant (Amsterdam edition, 10 February 1914) on the occasion of Van Hove’s death. P.K. van Daalen, Nederlandse beeldhouwers in de negentiende eeuw, The Hague 1957, pp. 170 (no. 29), 172 (nos. 37-40), 174 (no. 48), 175 (nos. 51, 52), 176 (no. 59). Van Hove’s traditional style was formed by his artistic training with Lacomblé at the art academy in The Hague, Jozef Geefs in Antwerp (1874) and lastly P.J. Cavelier in Paris. Even if outdated by 1900, this French academism was still much in demand among a more conservative clientele.²²Cited biographical information comes from P.K. van Daalen, Nederlandse beeldhouwers in de negentiende eeuw, The Hague 1957, pp. 163-64; Y. Koopmans, Muurvast & Gebeiteld: Beeldhouwkunst in de bouw 1840-1940, Rotterdam 1997, pp. 45-48, 52, 53, 291-92; W. Burgers, ‘Bart van Hove (1850-1914): de laatste statuaire van de 19de eeuw’, Bulletin van het Rijksmuseum 53 (2005), pp. 179-91.

With a somewhat dreamy gaze, Anna van der Togt tilts her head slightly to the right. She wears her hair in a bun at the nape of neck. The portrait ends below the shoulders and terminates in front with a deftly tied drapery knot. The bust rests on a slightly expanding block-shaped pedestal, adorned in front with a single rose stem rendered in relief. The sculpture is a replica of a marble version, the present whereabouts of which are presently unknown.³³In 1974, the bust was in the possession of the sitter’s son, C.C. Berlage in Winterswijk. Anna Carolina van der Togt was the second child of Johannes van der Togt (1849-1931), a teacher in Leiden, and Christina van Dijk (1853-1941). Her family had moved to Amsterdam when she was an infant.⁴⁴See Stadsarchief Amsterdam (hereafter: SAA), archive 5000 (Bevolkingsregister 1974-1893), inv. no. 1630. In 1907, she married the Amsterdam merchant and real estate agent Clemens Joseph Heinrich Berlage (1881-1945), whom she divorced in 1929.⁵⁵SAA, archive 30238 (Archiefkaarten), inv. no. 1865. Anna Carolina died in or shortly before October 1970. The bust might possibly have been given as an engagement gift by her fiancé, who, like the sculptor resided in Amsterdam. Nevertheless, the precise motivation remains unclear.

Frits Scholten, 2026

Eerste gedeelte der tentoonstelling van teekeningen en beeldhouwwerken vervaardigd door leden der maatschappij, exh. cat. Amsterdam (Arti et Amicitiae), November-December 1904, no. 97-130

F. Scholten, 2026, 'Bart van Hove, Portrait Bust of Anna Carolina van der Togt (1883-1970), Amsterdam, in or before 1904', in F. Scholten and B. van der Mark (eds.), European Sculpture in the Rijksmuseum, online coll. cat. Amsterdam: https://data.rijksmuseum.nl/20036359