Joan Frans Berg (Amsterdam 1851 – ’s-Graveland 1935)
Lady in a Hat
Netherlands, end of the 19th century
painting on porcelain / hand-painted porcelain dish

A unique example of 19th-century decorative art – a hand-painted portrait of a woman in a Renaissance costume, executed on a porcelain dish and framed in a richly decorated, octagonal wooden frame with floral ornamentation and enameled applications. The painting depicts a half-length young lady in Renaissance attire with a wide hat, lace collar, and necklace, depicted in a slight contrapposto pose and illuminated by a subtle light that gives the scene an elegant, painterly character. The artist is Joan Frans Berg, a Dutch painter and watercolorist associated with the Realist-Romantic tradition of the Netherlandish School. He was known for his exquisite portrait studies and genre scenes, as well as for his passion for historicizing costume representations, to which the presented work alludes. The piece represents an interesting blend of portrait painting and decorative craftsmanship, fitting into the popular 19th-century trend of decorative representations on porcelain and faience, intended for representative bourgeois and aristocratic interiors.

Biography

Joan Frans Berg (1851–1935) – Dutch painter and watercolorist. Born in Amsterdam, he studied with August Allebé and at the Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp. From 1884 to 1903, he lived and worked in Paris, then returned to the Netherlands. He specialized in genre painting, especially scenes from the everyday life of the inhabitants of Zeeland, as well as portraits and cityscapes.