She wrote cats: the main admirer of furry ones in Europe Henrietta Ronner-Kniep (35 photos)

The example of this artist clearly demonstrates that not too common case when a person found himself in his place and became famous thanks to it.





In 1821, a girl was born into the family of the Dutch artist Joseph August Kniep. From the age of five, Henrietta tried to copy her father's work. Joseph undertook to teach his daughter. Moreover, the man began to lose his sight. And literally 10 years later, young Henrietta became the main breadwinner of the family.



Henrietta Ronner-Kniep

It must be said that, despite the lack of academic education, the nature of Knip’s talent was hereditary. Mother Pauline Riefer de Courcelles painted birds. The father's sister, after whom the child was named, loved floral still lifes. My paternal grandfather was also a painter.

Having matured, the woman moved to Amsterdam and gained fame as a landscape painter and even became the first representative of the fairer sex to be accepted into the community of Dutch artists Arti et Amicitiae. In 1850 she married Feiko Ronner, whom she met in the community. The couple moved to Belgium. Due to poor health, Ronner retired and became his wife's agent and helped raise the couple's six children.

The man noticed that his wife’s works, in which there are animals - cats or dogs, are bought faster. And he advised Henrietta to try herself in the animal genre. The advice turned out to be correct. The artist’s works began to be snapped up like hot cakes. She was even commissioned by royalty to paint portraits of their favorites - Queen of Belgium Maria Henrietta of Habsburg-Lorraine and German Princess Maria of Hohenzolern-Sigmarinen.

And from that moment on, Henrietta completely devoted herself to creating paintings with cats. Proud cats, graceful cats, appeared from under the brush. A common theme is a mother cat looking at the antics of her furry offspring with love and pride. Perhaps this is how Ronner, the mother of a large family, transferred her own family stories onto canvas in an allegorical way.

Through images of animals, the artist talked about human emotions - care, tenderness, education, touching games, maternal love, happy childhood, relationships between generations and more.



All these emotions are timeless, which is why they, like touching characters, are still popular today. The earnings from the sale of paintings were enough to buy a house where, in addition to her husband and children, dogs, a parrot and, of course, a cat, who became a favorite and the main model, lived and bathed in love.

The son and two daughters continued the family tradition and became artists. In 1887, a woman who devoted 30 years of her life to creating paintings with cats was awarded a high award - the Order of Leopold I (this is the highest state award in Belgium). And five years later she became a Knight of the Order of Orange-Nassau (Dutch military and civilian award).

Ronner-Knip passed away in 1909 at an advanced age. The artist was 87 years old. Not only relatives, but also pets grieved. However, through the efforts of Henrietta, who never claimed to be an academic master, they, as well as warm emotions and feelings, continue to live to this day in the paintings of Ronner-Kniep.