Betzy Akersloot-Berg

Betzy Akersloot-Berg was born in 1850 in Norway, where she trained as a nurse and worked as a missionary among the Sami people. She developed an interest in painting and studied with various Norwegian and German artists. She was especially influenced by the Dutch marine painter Hendrik Willem Mesdag, whom she met in 1885 and later studied with in The Hague. She also became friends with his wife Sientje van Houten, who painted a portrait of her. In 1893, she married Gooswinus Akersloot, a former mayor of Hoevelaken, and moved to the Netherlands. In 1896, they settled on the island of Vlieland, where they bought the oldest house in town and named it "Tromp's Huys", after a Dutch admiral. She built a studio near the house and painted many seascapes and landscapes of the island and other coastal areas. She also traveled extensively and exhibited her work in several European countries. She was active in the artistic community and maintained contact with other painters, such as Puvis de Chavannes, whom she studied with briefly in Paris. She also ran a Sunday school and a sewing society for girls on the island. She died in 1922, two days after her 72nd birthday, and was buried in the local cemetery. Her house became a museum in 1956 and most of her works are kept there or in other museums and collections. She is regarded as one of the most prominent female painters of the Hague School.