Agenda
Below you will find an overview of the expert meetings, events, gatherings, and publications organised by The Other Half and its partners.
2026
Expert Meeting #13 / 16 October 2026: Telling her own story. Donations and bequests as an artist’s strategy. Centraal Museum Utrecht, Tuinzaal, Agnietenstraat 1, Utrecht.
NOTE THAT THIS EXPERTMEETING IS IN DUTCH BUT PLEASE FEEL WELCOME TO PARTICIPATE IN THE DISCUSSION IN ENGLISH
Following The Other Half’s previous expert meeting on female heirs to artists’ estates, the upcoming edition will focus on the question of how female artists shaped their own artistic legacies. This is not solely about the transfer of artworks to museum collections, but also about the ways in which artists found opportunities to influence the interpretation, presentation, and remembrance of their work.
Drawing on four diverse examples, this expert meeting examines how this form of self-representation took shape in practice. Anne-Marie Segeren discusses Kate Bisschop and highlights how she managed to establish her own name and standing as an artist, alongside her husband’s fame. Lisa Bunda focuses on the Scottish artist Ethel Walker and her relationship with Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen. Ceri-Anne van de Geer examines Lou Loeber, who in the final years of her life played a decisive role in shaping the interpretation of her work. Her donation to the Rijksmuseum, the annotations accompanying the donated drawings, and her memoirs, published at the same time, together form a meaningful whole. Finally, Vera Merks discusses a group of female artists working in the abstract who, with the album Rechttoe-rechtaan (Straightforward), developed a unique form of self-promotion during the International Women’s Year in 1975, which continues to influence the policy of the Stedelijk Museum Schiedam. To conclude, Lies Netel, drawing on her research into the estate of Marianne van der Heijden, reflects on the role of museums in managing, interpreting, and making artists’ estates accessible.
Participation is free and you can register until 14 October via this link.
Past Activities
2025
30 June and 1 July 2025: Symposium The Female Impact, The Trippenhuis Building (KNAW), Amsterdam.
4 March 2025: Symposium Women in the Museum. Fabric of Fame: Materiality versus the Canon, Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam.
25 February 2025: AICA-Salon / Voldoende kunst van vrouwen: Niet of, maar hoe?, Perdu, Amsterdam
2024
24 November 2024: PAN Podium during PAN Amsterdam 2024
17 September 2024: Daniel Marot Lecture 2024 / Lecture by Caroline McCaffrey-Howarth. Lady Charlotte Schreiber (1812-1895), Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam
31 July 2024: Lecture by Jenny Reynaerts. Modellen en Muzen. Poseren voor Breitner, Toorop en Mondriaan, Museum Domburg
11 July 2024: Workshop Women and Museums: Research in Progress, University of Amsterdam
• Laia Anguix-Vilches (Radboud University), ‘Women Museum Managers: A History of Pioneering Women in the Management of European Cultural Heritage Institutions’
• Bram Donders (Museum Boijmans van Beuningen), ‘Women Donors and Legators to the Museum Boijmans van Beuningen’
• Mariëlle Ekkelenkamp (University of Amsterdam), ‘Women and Museum Patronage in the Rembrandt Association’
• Alicia Cartagena García-Alcaraz (University of Murcia), ‘Gender perspectives in European National Museums’
30 June 2024: Lecture by Jenny Reynaerts. Geesje & Anna. Een detective, Singer Museum, Laren
5 March 2024: Symposium Women in the Museum, Reclaiming and Reframing, Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam
2023
20 November 2023: Annual Lecture of the Richard Schöne-Gessellschaft fur Museumsgeschichte 2023 / Lecture by Rachel Esner and Jenny Reynaerts. Giving Voice to Women of the Rijksmuseum, Technische Universität, Berlin
1-2 June 2023: ESNA Conference Beyond ‘The Obstacle Race’: Women’s Role in the History of 19th-Century Art Revisited, RKD – Nederlands Instituut voor Kunstgeschiedenis, Den Haag; o.a. lezing Jenny Reynaerts, Not Just Another Figure in the Studio: Identifying the Artist’s Model, and Mariëlle Ekkelenkamp, Noblesse Oblige: Female Patrons of the Rembrandt Association 1883-1940
7 March 2023: Symposium Women in the Museum, Shattered Ceilings, Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam
2022
8 March 2022: Symposium Women in the Museum, Best Practices, Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam
Past Expert Meetings
The reports from the past expert meetings of The Other Half will soon be published here. Names and other personal data of participants are omitted from the reports. Speakers and steering committee members are named, with their permission. Recordings are not published for privacy reasons.
2026
#12 / 10 april 2026: Erven en schenken. Vrouwelijke pleitbezorgers, Zaal Coert, Depot van Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen.
• Chris van Weel (Auteur van Mathilde Cohen Tervaert-Israëls 1864—1945): ‘De kunstnalatenschap van vader en zoon Israëls: de rol en betekenis van Mathilde Cohen Tervaert-Israëls’
• Anne-Linde Ruiter (Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen): ‘“Eene edele vrouwe.” Cornelia Marjolin-Scheffers rol als legaatbewaker en schenker’
• Natalie Dubois (Centraal Museum Utrecht): ‘Truus Schröder en het Rietveld Schröderhuis’
• Miriam Windhausen (Adviseur kunstenaarsnalatenschappen): Vragen en einddiscussie
2025
#11 / 21 November 2025: Kunstmecenaat en gender. Kaders voor intersectioneel onderzoek (Art Patronage and Gender. Frameworks for Intersectional Research), University Library of the University of Amsterdam.
• Maaike Rikhof (Frans Hals Museum): ‘Introductie: Intersectionaliteit en methoden’
• Mariëlle Ekkelenkamp (Universiteit van Amsterdam): ‘Vrouwen en collectief kunstmecenaat: Een kwestie van kwantificatie’
• Tamara Klopper (Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam): ‘Liefde en invloed: Vrouwelijke mecenaatsrelaties’
• Ellen de Vries (zelfstandig onderzoeker): ‘Nola Hatterman: Koloniale perspectieven en nieuwe narratieven’
#10 / 4 April 2025: Kunstzaken. Vrouwelijke handelaren 1870-1945, Kunstmuseum Den Haag.
• Gert Elzinga (Historisch Centrum Leeuwarden): ‘Gerarda Henriëtte Matthijssen (1830-1907)’
• Evelien de Visser (RKD): ‘Helene Schemel (1850-1907) en Maison Artz’
• Eléonore Thole (RKD/Open Universiteit): ‘Uit de schaduw: De rol van vrouwen in de kunsthandel tijdens de Duitse bezetting – Tussen verzet, compromis en samenwerking’
2024
#9 / 18 October 2024: Symposium De rechtspositie van de andere helft, Paleis Het Loo, Apeldoorn
• Dr. Ulla Jansz (historian): ‘Vrouwenrechten in het publieke debat, 1870-1920’
• Mr. Dr. Sonja Dusarduijn (UHD Tax Law, Tilburg University): ‘De vrouw in het recht: Klem tussen principes en pragmatisme’
• Launch of the website of The Other Half by Sanne de Rooij
• Introduction and visit to the new collection presentation at Paleis Het Loo by Hanna Klarenbeek (curator of paintings, prints, and drawings)
#8 / 6 June 2024: Symposium Vrouwen en Museale geefcultuur, Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam
• Welcome by Ina Klaassen (General Director, Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen)
• Prof. Dr. Helleke van den Braber (Utrecht University): ‘De complexe kunst van het schenken in zes stellingen’
• Bram Donders (Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen): ‘Nagelaten. Vrouwelijke schenkers en legatoren aan Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen (1849-heden)’
• Mariëlle Ekkelenkamp (University of Amsterdam): ‘”Mannen met de beurs”? Over vrouwen als begunstigers van de Vereniging Rembrandt voor de Tweede Wereldoorlog’
• Martine Bontjes (independent art historian/Women of Amsterdam): ‘Betsy Westendorp-Osieck: kunstenares, verzamelaar en legacybuilder’
• Anne-Linde Ruiter (The Female Impact): ‘Margaretha Cornelia Boellaard: kunstenaar, verzamelaar, begunstiger’
• Discussion led by Rachel Esner (University of Amsterdam)
#7 / 19 January 2024: Women Museum Professionals
• Welcome by Jenny Reynaerts (Rijksmuseum)
• Rachel Esner (University of Amsterdam): ‘Ida Peelen – Beyond the Biography’
• Laia Anguix Vilches (Radboud University): ‘Women Managing Museums (1890s-1950s): A Trans-European History’
• Juno Schuijt (RKD): ‘The Recently Acquired Archives of Jo Zwartendijk, Assistant at Museum Boijmans van Beuningen and Art Critic for NRC’
• Discussion led by Jenny Reynaerts
2023
#6 / 17 May 2023: Research Methods
• Introduction by Jenny Reynaerts (Rijksmuseum)
• Dr. Susanna Avery-Quash (National Gallery, Londen): Two hundred years of women benefactors at the National Gallery: an exercise in mapping uncharted territory’
• Short notice by Bram Donders (Museum Boijmans van Beuningen)
• Bert-Jaap Koops (independent art historian): ‘Jo van Bilderbeek-Lamaison: Issues of Sources and Interpretation’
• Short notice by Rachel Esner (University of Amsterdam)
• Jenny Reynaerts: ‘The Other Half. Plans and Progress’
2022
#5 / 14 October 2022: Data en registratie
• Introduction by Bram Donders (Museum Boijmans van Beuningen) and Mayken Jonkman (RKD)
• Weixuan Li (Huygens Instituut/Universiteit van Amsterdam): ‘Space and Strategy: Mapping 17th Century Art Market in Amsterdam’
• Harm Nijboer (UvA) and Judith Brouwer (Huygens Instituut): ‘Onderzoek in een ogenblik. Prentkunst in Amsterdam in de zeventiende eeuw’
• Reinier van ’t Zelfde (RKD): ‘Door het LOD verbonden aan het RKD’Edwin Klijn (Network of War Archives): ‘Van archieven naar verhalen. 1 + 1 = 3’
• Daniel Kapitan (EAISI): ‘Knowledge Graphs in de praktijk’
#4 / 1 April 2022: Kunstcritici en conservatoren
• Introduction by Beatrice von Bormann (Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam)
• Loes van Beuningen (Radboud University): ‘Van minderheid naar meerderheid, vrouwen in de Nederlandse beeldende kunstkritiek 1800-2000’
• Roosmarijn Hompe (KABK): ‘Een wereld te winnen, Greet ten Holte als wegbereider van het internationaal cultuurbeleid 1945-1973’
• Tessel Bauduin (University of Amsterdam): ‘Gertrude Pape: Salonnière van dada en surrealisme in oorlogstijd’
• Ninke Bloemberg (Centraal Museum): ‘Jonkvrouw Caroline (Carla) Henriette de Jonge 1886-1972 Directrice Centraal Museum’
• Jorien Soepboer (Museum Gouda): ‘Vrouwen Eerst, Het voorkeursbeleid van Josine de Bruyn Kops (1976-1986)’
• Discussion led by Jenny Reynaerts (Rijksmuseum)
2021
#3 / 19 november 2021: Collectors and Mediators
• Introduction by Mayken Jonkman (RKD)
• Frances Fowle (National Galleries of Scotland): ‘The Gendering of Collecting: Women as Tastemakers and Philanthropists 1780-1980’
• Martine Bontjes: ‘Betsy Westendorp-Osieck: Artist, art collector and legacy builder’
• Julia van Leeuwen: ‘Anna Hogguer-Ebeling’
• Fleur Roos Rosa de Carvalho (Van Gogh Museum): ‘Female mediators of Odilon Redon’
• Discussion on how to proceed with the project led by Rachel Esner (University of Amsterdam)
#2 / 4 juni 2021: Collectors, Curators and Critics
• Welcome by Chris Stolwijk (RKD)
• Introduction by Mayken Jonkman (RKD)
• Evelien de Visser (RKD): ‘Onderzoek naar vrouwelijke verzamelaars in Nederland’
• Mariëlle Ekkelenkamp: ‘Vrouwelijke kunstcritici’
• Jenny Reynaerts (Rijksmuseum): ‘Vrouwen van het Rijksmuseum, een onderzoeksprogramma’
• Rachel Esner (University of Amsterdam): ‘Vrouwelijke medewerkers van het Rijksmuseum en een BA-werkgroep’
• Beatrice von Bormann (Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam): ‘Vrouwelijke verzamelaars en curatoren in het Stedelijk Museum’
• Discussion on final goals and possible results
#1 / 2021: Founding of The Other Half
First closed meeting that led to the founding of The Other Half.