Willem Witsen
Pia Amade
Ingeborg Th. Leijerzapf
Abstract
The Amsterdam painter and graphic artist Willem Witsen was an enthusiastic amateur photographer, who brought exceptional qualities to his hobby. This ‘aristocrat’ among the painters was the key figure in a circle of friends, which included writers, poets, musicians, and painters. The poets and writers in this group were referred to by the period in which they were active, the Tachtigers (literally ‘Eightiers’). Together they formed an avant-garde group centred around the magazine De Nieuwe Gids (‘The New Guide’). Witsen photographed his artist friends in all frames of mind. In this manner, he managed to create an impressive oeuvre of character portraits. Besides his friends, Witsen photographed members of his family, his children growing up, Amsterdam cityscapes, and countless cities and landscapes during his travels across Europe.
Biography
1860 |
Willem Arnoldus Witsen is born on 13 August in Amsterdam as the youngest of six children. His parents are Jonas Jan Witsen and Jacoba Elisabeth Bonekamp. Jonas Witsen is an affluent merchant. |
1876–‘84 |
Witsen takes classes at the RABK (Rijksacademie van Beeldende Kunsten, ‘National Academy of Fine Arts’) in Amsterdam, under the direction of August Allebé. Fellow students and friends include Jacobus van Looy, Maurits van der Valk, Jan Veth, Willem Tholen, Eduard Karsen, Piet Meiners and Gerard Muller. |
1880 |
On10 November, students at the RABK establish the ‘Sint Lucas’ (St. Luke) artist’s association. The initiators are Antoon Derkinderen, Jacobus van Looy, Maurits van der Valk, and Willem Witsen. |
1883 |
Jacobus van Looy nominates Witsen as a member of the literary circle ‘Flanor’, founded in 1881. |
1885 |
Together with Jan Veth, Witsen establishes the ‘Nederlandsche Etsclub’ (‘Netherlands Etching Club’). |
1886–‘87 |
Witsen writes various articles for De Nieuwe Gids (‘The New Guide’), under the pseudonyms ‘W.J. van Westervoorde’ and ‘Verberchem’. In an article for the October 1887 issue, Witsen mentions photography in passing. |
1888–‘91 |
On 18 October 1888, Witsen departs for London, where he lives and works with minor interruptions until January 1891. In London, Witsen is in contact with Albert Kapteyn, an engineer and amateur photographer, who is perhaps responsible for introducing Witsen to photographic technique. |
1891 |
Witsen settles in Amsterdam at Eerste Parkstraat 138 (nowadays Eerste Oosterparkstraat 82). The earliest photos that can be attributed to him with certainty date from this year. |
1892 |
The French poet Paul Verlaine stays with Witsen in Amsterdam during his visit to the Netherlands. Witsen photographs the poet in his studio. |
1893 |
On 4 May, Willem Witsen weds Elisabeth (Betsy) van Vloten. The couple moves to the villa ‘De Zonneberg’ in Ede. The villa and its immediate surroundings serve as the decor for many of the portrait photos that Witsen takes of family and friends. |
1894–’98 |
Willem and Elisabeth Witsen have three sons: Willem (nicknamed ‘Pam’), Erik, and Odo. The boys have to pose for Witsen’s camera on a frequent basis. |
1902 |
On 27 June, Witsen officially divorces Betsy van Vloten. He returns to his old address in Amsterdam on the Eerste Parkstraat, where he still has his studio. |
In September, Witsen travels to London with Jan Hofker. |
|
1905–’06 |
Witsen’s written correspondence in the years 1915 and 1917 indicates that his activity as a photographer comes to an end in the period 1905 to 1906. His pocket agendas include annotations concerning the printing of photographs until 1908. |
1907 |
On 25 April, Witsen weds Marie Schorr in Amsterdam. |
1915 |
As a representative of the Departement van Landbouw, Nijverheid en Handel (‘Department of Agriculture, Industry and Commerce’), Witsen and his wife attend the Panama-Pacific International Exhibition in San Francisco. Witsen is in charge of setting up the Dutch art section at this exhibition. |
1920–’21 |
On 16 October 1920, Willem and Marie Witsen depart for the Dutch East Indies, where they stay until May 1921. Witsen is commissioned to paint the portrait of Governor-General J.P. Graaf van Limburg Stirum for the Volksraad (‘People’s Council’). |
On 19 January 1921, Witsen purchases a camera for Dfl. 179. In his daily journal, he regularly mentions taking photos, e.g. of a Chinese temple, the Borobudur temple, and the house where he is staying. |
|
1923 |
On 13 April, Willem Witsen dies in Amsterdam. |
Discussion
The painter and graphic artist Willem Witsen is considered one of the Amsterdam Impressionists, as was the painter George Breitner. In his free time, Witsen was a passionate practitioner of photography. In contrast to most of the painters who photographed at this time—who were secretive about their photographic activity for fear of being seen as copyists of photos, among them George Breitner—Witsen was relatively open about his endeavours in this area. Nevertheless, his photos were circulated only among his private circle of family and friends, for whom they were taken. Witsen’s oeuvre consists of several hundred photos, which can generally be classified into the following categories: family portraits, portraits of friends, Amsterdam cityscapes, and travel mementos.
Witsen is likely to have started taking photos in the year 1890. How and from whom he learned to photograph is known up to a point. Witsen owned a copy of the ‘Gids voor den Amateur-Fotograaf’ (‘Guide for the Amateur Photographer’), written by the photographer Joseph Jessurun de Mesquita and published in 1889. Although he personally knew the author through mutual friends, it is not known whether Mesquita was actually the one who introduced him to photography. It could very well have been the amateur photographer Albert Kapteyn, whom Witsen visited in London, or perhaps his friend George Breitner. What is certain, is that in 1890, Witsen went on ‘photography outings’ together with Kapteyn in London and that the two men discussed art photography on a frequent basis.
Witsen’s legacy of negatives consists of glass plates and film pack nitrate negatives. The glass plates in the format 13×18 cm are the earliest; in the second half of the 1890s, he also used smaller format glass negatives of 9×12 cm; shortly after the turn of the century, he switched to film pack nitrate film in the format 9×12 cm. There is also a wooden plate camera preserved in his legacy.
Just as Breitner, Witsen made his prints on daylight paper and pasted these onto the (black) cardboard mounts available on the market. The few prints that have survived are typically contact prints of the negatives, though he also made enlargements.
While Witsen was perhaps never professionally trained in photography, his eye for the specific visual capabilities of the photographic medium was better than most of his contemporaries who were professionally schooled. Flattering poses were not to his taste, nor did he do any retouching. Witsen had no desire to follow the photographic conventions of his day, but instead favoured his own approach. As an impressionist painter, light was his most important visual device. Witsen ‘sculpted’ his subjects with strong contrasts in light and dark. Accordingly, plasticity and depth are abundantly present in Witsen’s photos. He also applied selective areas of sharpness in order to create depth. He preferred to photograph outdoors in daylight. In his studio, he used artificial light, usually from a single light source. Witsen was not alone when it came to applying light in a painterly fashion. A plasticity achieved by means of contrast can also be observed in the photos of several of his contemporaries, including George Breitner and Thomas Eakins. In Dutch professional photography of the 1890s, the use of light for ‘modelling’ purposes was still quite uncommon. Witsen was also unorthodox in daring to photograph full-frame. He applied framing to crop portraits, when he believed he could strengthen an individual’s personal characteristics by doing so. Witsen’s approach to composing and artistically directing a portrait photo was well-conceived. When the situation called for it, however, he used his camera with speed and spontaneity. ‘Snapshots’ are therefore a regular occurrence. Witsen liked to experiment with double images: portraits reflected in a mirror, a person across from him captured together with his own image in a single shot, or a combination print comprising two shots of the same person. In these endeavours, he sometimes obtained very remarkable results.
Through his liberal treatment of the camera, Witsen learned to master a specific photographic idiom of form. Close-ups, image crops, selective sharpness, and combination prints were used as visual devices, several decades in advance of their discovery by other photographers.
Unlike Breitner, Witsen rarely used his photos as models for his etchings and paintings. Only three portraits in Witsen’s photographic oeuvre have been redone in another technique: an etching from a photo of Willem Kloos taken in 1894, a painting from a photo of Willem (Pam) Witsen Jr. taken in 1897, and a drawing from a portrait photo of Marius Bauer.
Without doubt, Witsen’s portrait photos dating from the first ten years of his photographic activity make up the most interesting part of his oeuvre. These are the portraits of his artist friends, enthrallingly photographed and significant as historic documents. Witsen was the central figure of a large circle of friends. In this group were a number of poets and writers associated with De Nieuwe Gids, e.g. Willem Kloos, Hein Boeken, P.L. Tak, Charles van Deventer, Arnold Ising, Jac. van Looy and Pet Tideman, the publisher Willem Versluys and his wife Annette Versluys-Poelman, the writers Arthur van Schendel, Jan Hofker, and Frederik van Eden, musicians such as Alphons Diepenbrock, and artists such as Isaac Israëls, George Breitner, Ed Karsen and Mau van der Valk.
Witsen’s home was a refuge and a place to gather; one could describe it as an artist’s salon. Witsen was always in the position to welcome his friends with a glass of fine wine and aromatic cigars. As the son of a wealthy merchant, he had no desire to live a life weighed down by material concerns. When necessary—as was the case on more than one occasion for friends such as George Breitner, Arthur van Schendel, Hein Boeken, Jac. van Looy, Nol Ising, and Willem Kloos—he acted as a benefactor, even when he was unable to afford it and obliged to approach his father for additional financial support. It requires a bit of effort to form an image of this calm, closed, even somewhat reserved man—who was also hard of hearing—based on what has been written about him. For many, he was a very trustworthy and devoted friend. Willem Kloos, in particular, experienced this during his numerous periods of depression.
Witsen was the first photographer of the nineteenth century in the Netherlands who worked at depicting a person’s character in portrait photography. He photographed his friends—painters, writers, poets, and musicians—in various ways: either posing seriously or in positions more candid and somewhat unconventional. Whenever anyone came to visit him, either at his Amsterdam studio or his villa in Ede, Witsen always reached for his camera. Guests would sometimes pose with his children, sometimes in groups of two or three friends, but usually alone. Witsen focused on people’s moods and predisposition. When the great Dutch poet Willem Kloos—or a lesser god like Hein Boeken—leaned back tired in his chair with a glass of wine in the hand, Witsen captured him at that precise moment, showing his exhausted state in his photo. Kloos’ tormented, pock-ridden face is often photographed from close up. In a letter dated 21 July 1892, Pieter L. Tak, editor of De Nieuwe Gids, wrote to thank Witsen for the photos he had taken: ‘Particularly nice is the contrast between the stately gentleman farmer profile portrait and the much more brazen en face.’ During gatherings at Witsen’s studio, the wine was usually flowing before the camera had even been taken out of its bag. In the subsequent festive atmosphere, the camera’s eye caught the same kinds of images taken at the studio of Israël Kiek, the renowned photographer from Leiden. Just as university students gathered together in folly, so too did Witsen and his friends circle around in front of the camera, with their faces all gathered together.
Witsen’s family members are certain to have been photographed just as frequently as his many friends. His portraits of his wife Betsy van Vloten—by all appearances a highly introvert woman—are dream-like. His children are typically photographed at play, sometimes hanging around in a chair, or sitting on someone’s lap: rarely are they posed. Contrary to portraits made by the official portrait studios, in which children were portrayed as miniature adults, Witsen’s photos show real children, in moments of delight and anger.
Towards the end of the century, Witsen investigated other topics more frequently than before. He began venturing out into the city with his camera. He also took it with him during biking trips and sailing excursions. In these outdoor shots, Witsen devoted significant attention to composition, making use, when possible, of contrasts in light and dark. In some of these cityscapes, one feels the same serene atmosphere encountered in his etchings, which were also rich in contrast. Witsen’s series of etchings of Amsterdam cityscapes are exceptional for the fineness of detail, the fall of the light, contrasts (dark shadows and white snow), and serenity. They depict ‘frozen’ moments taken from everyday life, exactly as a camera captures and preserves a single instant. On occasion, Witsen tried to express movement in his photos by making the foreground sharp and the background blurry, such as when he photographed Jan Hofker around 1897, walking along the waters of the IJ River. More often than not, however, his outdoor shots conveyed the same tranquility as his etchings.
Witsen’s photographic oeuvre likewise includes shots of cavalry exercises on the heath. This subject was primarily a favourite subject of his friend George Breitner, whose legacy as well comprises photos of the cavalry. There is no way to attribute these photos specifically to either of the two men based on technical or stylistic considerations. Both artists exchanged photos on occasion, as affirmed by an undated letter written by Breitner to Witsen: ‘Nol [Ising, I.Th.L] told me that you are currently specifically working with enlargements. I’d like to ask you if you perhaps had a piece of heathland (foreground) for me, I’d be very grateful to you…’
Witsen travelled frequently during his life, in Europe and beyond. In the 1870s and ’80s, Paris and London appealed greatly to him. Around the turn of the century, he travelled farther into the heart of Europe, visiting Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Czechoslovakia, and Hungary. Witsen’s negatives legacy holds approximately two hundred shots taken during these trips. Based on the fact that these negatives originate from Witsen’s legacy, he is attributed as the photographer. An additional argument for such an attribution is the simple observation that Witsen himself is not seen in any of the photos, while it is certain he was part of the group. Whatever the case may be, when compared to the portrait photos and cityscapes taken in the 1890s, these photos are less striking and lack the spontaneous spirit of the earlier period. They are nothing more (and nothing less) than fairly successful holiday photos. As far as is known, none of the photos that Witsen took during his travels to San Francisco in 1915 and the Dutch East Indies in 1920–’21 have been preserved. Annotations made in his daily journal during the latter trip reveal he purchased a camera and subsequently photographed landscapes and other subjects.
The family photos that Witsen took in the period directly preceding and during his second marriage are as well little more than a collection of snapshots. These photos are attributed to Witsen on the same grounds as his travel photos. The same people are found in various snapshots, but for the most part their identity remains unknown. Witsen left behind no agendas or diaries for these years, from which one might have ascertained the names of these individuals.
Willem Witsen and George Breitner photographed in a manner that differed from other photographers of their day. They were not part of the photographic tradition and—whether intentionally or not—introduced new perspectives on camera use and drawing with light on the sensitive plate. Remarkably, neither of the two painters were ever in the least drawn to photographic techniques that sought to imitate painting, as aspired to by art photographers. Witsen and Breitner had no intention of their photos resembling anything other than photos. Through their creative desire for experimentation, they discovered the unique capabilities of the photographic medium. Notwithstanding, neither of the two men had any influence on the future development of photography, because their work was never known outside their own private circles. Lodewijk van Deyssel, in his Gedenkschriften (‘Memoirs’), worded Witsen’s significance as a photographer most aptly: ‘Witsen has painted, watercoloured, etched and photographed. I mention this outright, even though the photographic work has never been shown in public, because the photographs he took are the most beautiful that one can see, and because these photographs affirm, more than any others, that as long as a photographer was not allowed to be an artist, an artist is then indeed the best photographer.’
Documentation
Primary bibliography
W.J.v.W. (= W.J. v. Westervoorde), Jan van Beers in het panorama, in De Nieuwe Gids, 3 (oktober 1887) 1, p. 134.
images in:
Claude Magelhaes, Nederlandse fotografie. De eerste 100 jaar, Utrecht /Antwerpen (Bruna & Zoon) 1969, afb. 50-51.
Harry G.M. Prick, Gerlof van Vloten: kanttekeningen bij een catalogus, in De Negentiende Eeuw. Documentatieblad 1 (mei 1977) 1 ,p.26.
Catalogus tent. Het kind in de fotografie, Gent (Museum A. Vander Haeghen) 1981.
Kees Joosse, Willem Kloos, een lastige patiënt, in Bzzlletin 14 (oktober 1985) 129, p. 40-52.
Nederlands Tijdschrift voor Geneeskunde 130 (27 september 1986) 39, p. 1745.
Secondary bibliography
J. Jessurun de Mesquita, Gids voor den Amateur-Fotograaf, Amsterdam (W. Versluys) 1889.
A. Plasschaert, Witsen, bij Wisselingh, te Amsterdam, in De Groene Amsterdammer 10 april 1920.
J.G. Veldheer, W. Witsen een herinnering, in Jaarboekje van de Vereeniging tot Bevordering der Grafische Kunst 1920-1924, 1925, p. 5-7.
A.M. Hammacher, Amsterdamse impressionisten en hun kring, Amsterdam (Meulenhofï) 1941, p. 57-58, 65-69 (met foto’s).
A.M. Hammacher e.a., Witsen en zijn vriendenkring, Amsterdam (Meulenhoff) 1947.
S.J.L., De vrienden-schilders, in Dordrechtsch Dagblad 3 maart 1948.
Jan Vrijman, Willem Witsen, in De Groene Amsterdammer 1 april 1950.
Alfred Kossmann, Het gezicht van Willem Kloos, in Het Vrije Volk 18 april 1956.
Jac. van der Ster, Willem Witsen en Isaac Israels, in De Groene Amsterdammer 27 december 1958.
Hans Redeker, Willem Witsen in het Amsterdam van de impressionisten. Aristocraat-kunstenaar die dichters en schilders verbond, in Algemeen Handelsblad 17 januari 1959.
Lodewijk van Deyssel, Willem Witsen, in Gedenkschriften, deel 2, Zwolle, 1962, p. 639-643.
P.H. Hefting en C.C.G. Quarles van Ufford, Breitner als fotograaf, Rotterdam (Lemniscaat) 1966, p. 7, 18-21.
Catalogus tent. Foto-portret, Den Haag (Haags Gemeentemuseum) 1970, p. 28, 68-69 (met foto’s).
A.B. Osterholt, Breitner en zijn foto’s, Amsterdam (De Arbeiderspers) 1974.
Catalogus tent. Willem Witsen fotograaf, Den Haag (Dienst Verspreide Rijkscollecties) z.j. (1977).
Auteur onbekend, Witsen-expositie, in Haagsche Courant 22 januari 1977.
Auteur onbekend, Werken Willem Witsen in Gemeentemuseum, in Het Vaderland 24 januari 1977.
Auteur onbekend, Willem Witsen als fotograaf, in Het Binnenhof 25 januari 1977.
Auteur onbekend, Verrassende fotovondsten van Willem Witsen, in De Posthoorn 27 januari 1977.
Bas Roodnat, Willem Witsen fotograaf van zijn vrienden, in NRC Handelsblad 4 februari 1977.
Dolf Welling, Witsen als fotograaf van de Tachtigers, in Haagsche Courant 11 februari 1977.
K. Schippers, Breitner, Magritte en andere fotografen, in Hollands Diep 12 februari 1977, p.20.
Ruben de Heer, ‘Tachtig’ herleeft in unieke fotocollectie van Willem Witsen. Haags Gemeentemuseum gebruikte oude glasnegatieven, in Utrechtsch Nieuwsblad 12 februari 1977.
Auteur onbekend, Willem Witsen, in De Volkskrant 25 februari 1977.
Rom Boonstra, De kunst van het glazen oog. Fotografie in de belangstelling, in Elseviers Magazine 26 februari 1977.
CJ. Aarts, Willem Witsen, in Hollands Diep 26 februari 1977.
Dick Boer, Willem Witsen in Prentenkabinet, in Focus 62 (maart 1977) 3, p.15.
Beate Gleistein, Wie weet wie Willem Witsen was?, in Rijksmuseum Kunst-Krant 3 (mei 1977) 9, p. 1-4.
Hans Redeker, Rijksprentenkabinet exposeert verweerde wereld van Witsen, in NRC Handelsblad 2 juni 1977.
Wim Volkering, Willem Witsen, etser en tekenaar van grote allure, in Twentsche Courant 17 juni 1977.
Ton Frenken, Prachtige etsen van Willem Witsen. Groot kunstenaar in Amsterdams Rijksprentenkabinet, in Het Nieuwsblad van het Zuiden 18 juni 1977, p. 29.
J. Giltay, Willem Witsen, een rasechte Tachtiger. Etsen en tekeningen in het Prentenkabinet van het Rijksmuseum, in Vrij Nederland 38 (2 juli 1977), p. 22.
Auteur onbekend, Witsen en Bauer in vitrine, in Interaktie 11 (23 september 1977) 16.
G. Schlimme van Brunswijk, De tijd van Tachtig in beeld, in De Arnhemse Courant 29 november 1977.
Ingeborg Th. Leijerzapf (red.), Fotografie in Nederland 1839-1920, Den Haag (Staatsuitgeverij) 1978, p. 72, 73, 108 (met foto’s).
Auteur onbekend, Bauer en Witsen, in NRC Handelsblad 10 februari 1978.
Auteur onbekend, Fotoexpositie Willem Witsen in Hoensbroek, in Limburgs Dagblad 3 februari 1979.
Auteur onbekend, Willem Witsen, in Het Parool 5 oktober 1979.
Constant Wallagh, Willem Witsen, in Algemeen Dagblad 15 oktober 1979.
Peter van Zonneveld, Prick belicht fotograaf Witsen in luchtige causerie, in NRC Handelsblad 9 mei 1980.
Pieter A. Scheen, Lexicon Nederlandse beeldende kunstenaars 1750-1880, Den Haag (Pieter A. Scheen BV) 1981, p. 589-590.
Adriaan Venema, G.H. Breitner, 1857-1923, Bussum (Het Wereldvenster) 1981, p. 224-229, 231-252, 320-321.
Catalogus tent. De tijd wisselt van spoor, Laren (Singer Museum) 1981, p. 155-167, 216, 252.
Chris Will, Tachtigers en de kunstkritiek, in Metropolis M 2 (april 1981) 4, p. 21-29.
Rein van der Wiel, Beelden van ’80. Het oog van Joseph Jessurun de Mesquita (1865-1890), in De Revisor 8 (juni 1981) 3, p. 42-48.
Jan Coppens, Het kind in de fotografie, in Foto 36 (september 1981) 9, p. 54-57 (met foto’s).
Rob Nieuwenhuys (inl.), De beweging van 80, Amsterdam (De Bezige Bij) 1982. (Schrijversprentenboek 22).
Catalogus tent. Zien en gezien worden. Fotografische zelfbespiegeling in Nederland van 1840 tot heden, Nijmegen (Nijmeegs Museum ‘Commanderie van Sint Jan’) 1983. p. 78, 95.
Jessica Voeten, Het verdwenen portret van de gouverneur-generaal, hoe Willem Witsen naar Indië reisde, in NRC Handelsblad 18 november 1983.
Ingeborg Th. Leijerzapf, De studentikoze poses in de fotografische oeuvres van Israël David Kiek en Willem Witsen, in Leids Kunsthistorisch Jaarboek 1983, p. 283-299.
Hedi Hegeman, George Breitner, in Geschiedenis van de Nederlandse fotografie, Alphen aan den Rijn (Samsom) 1984 e.v.
Ingeborg Th. Leijerzapf, Truus Haasbroek-Hessels, in Geschiedenis van de Nederlandse fotografie, Alphen aan den Rijn (Samsom) 1984 e.v.
Ingeborg Th. Leijerzapf, Israël Kiek & Zonen, in Geschiedenis van de Nederlandse fotografie, Alphen aan den Rijn (Samsom) 1984 e.v.
Ingeborg Th. Leijerzapf en Tineke de Ruiter, Bernard Eilers, in Geschiedenis van de Nederlandse fotografie, Alphen aan den Rijn (Samsom) 1984 e.v.
Hedi Hegeman, 300 Originele fotoafdrukken, George Hendrik Breitner, 1857-1923, in Jaarverslag Vereniging Rembrandt 1984, p.38-43.
Charles Vergeer, Willem Witsen en zijn vriendenkring. De Amsterdamse bohème van de jaren negentig, Amsterdam/Brussel (Thomas Rap) 1985.
Charles Vergeer, Schrijvers zonder gezicht, in Bzzlletin 14 (oktober 1985) 129, p. 9-16.
Auteur onbekend, De ‘Tachtigers’ en hun vriendenkring, in Kunstbeeld oktober 1985, p. 54.
J.F. Heijbroek, Willem Witsen in Amerika, in Geen schepsel wordt vergeten (vriendenbundel J.W. Schulte Nordholt). Amsterdam/Zutphen (Trouw/Terra) 1985, p. 121-130.
Auteur onbekend, Schilder – etser – fotograaf, in P/F-Professionele Fotografie (maart 1986) 2, p. 35-42 (met foto’s).
Ingeborg Th. Leijerzapf, Willem Witsen beeldhouwde met licht, in Photohistorisch Tijdschrift 9 (1986) 4, p. 2-3.
J.F. Heijbroek, Werken naar foto’s. Een terreinverkenning. Nederlandse kunstenaars en de fotografie in het Rijksmuseum, in Bulletin van het Rijksmuseum 34 (1986) 4, p. 220-236.
Bas Roodnat, Etsen van Willem Witsen tonen nieuw realisme, in NRC Handelsblad 10 augustus 1987.
J.F. Heijbroek, Het verblijf van Willem Witsen in Londen (1888-1891), (vriendenbundel), Haarlem (Schuyt & Co.) 1988.
Exhibitions
1947 (g) Amsterdam, Stedelijk Museum, Willem Witsen en zijn vriendenkring.
1969 (g) ‘s-Hertogenbosch, Noord-Brabants Museum, Nederlandse Fotografie, de eerste 100 jaar (rondreizende tentoonstelling).
1970 (g) Den Haag, Haags Gemeentemuseum, Foto-portret.
1977/1981 (e) Den Haag, Prentenkabinet van het Haags Gemeentemuseum, Willem Witsen fotograaf (rondreizende tentoonstelling).
1981 (g) Laren, Singer Museum, De tijd wisselt van spoor.
1981 (g) Gent, Museum A. Vander Haeghen, Het kind in de fotografie.
1983 (g) Nijmegen, Nijmeegs Museum ‘Commanderie van Sint-Jan’, Zien en gezien worden. Fotografische zelfbespiegeling in Nederland van ca. 1840 tot heden.
Sources
Amsterdam, Universiteitsbibliotheek.
Den Haag, Koninklijke Bibliotheek (Witsenarchief).
Den Haag, Pia Amade (ongepubliceerd stageverslag, juli 1985).
Den Haag, Rijksbureau voor Kunsthistorische Documentatie.
Haarlem, Van Looy-archief.
Leiden, Prentenkabinet, bibliotheek en documentatiebestand.
Collections
Amsterdam, Archief van Uitgeverij Versluys.
Amsterdam, Internationaal Instituut voor Sociale Geschiedenis.
Amsterdam, Universiteitsbibliotheek (o.a. Albert Verwey-Archief en Frederik van Eeden-Museum).
Amsterdam, Witsenhuis.
Den Haag, Nederlands Letterkundig Museum en Documentatiecentrum.
Den Haag, Rijksdienst Beeldende Kunst.
Leiden, Prentenkabinet van de Rijksuniversiteit.