Ferdinand Hart Nibbrig

Personal

Vocation

Traits

Dutch painter and theosophist. He was the fifth son of the merchant in sugar Pieter Jacobus Hart Nibbrig (3 Dec 1837, A'dam - 11 March 1902, Hilversum) and Elisabeth Agneta Hart (7 Dec 1839, A'dam - 29 June 1918, Hilversum). They married 18 June 1863 and got eight children. The first three children died at young age. On 31 January 1884 the family name changed from Nibbrig tot Hart Nibbrig, as the family name Hart (heart) from mothers side otherwise would disappear. His talent for drawing was recognised soon. At age 7 he got his first lessons from the painter Johan Adolph Rust (13 April 1828, Amsterdam - 27 July 1915, Amsterdam), a pupil and nephew of Cornelis Springer. From 1881 till 1883 he studied art and crafts at Quellinus in Amsterdam. From 1883 till 1888, he studied painting at the Rijksacademie in Amsterdam and the Académie Julian Paris (1888). He started painting in the impressionistic style of the Amsterdam school. After a trip to Paris (1890), he changed to pointillism. Since 1894 he worked in Laren. On 25 April 1895 he married Johanna Bartruida Moltzer (29 May 1869, A'dam - 10 June 1957, Dornach) in Amsterdam. They got at least four children (1896, 1899, 1903, 1904). In 1908 they became member of the Gooise Lodge of Steiners theosophical movement. In 1910 he was a teacher at the school of art in Laren. He died 12 October 1915 in Laren, age 49. When dying, he said that he now could see the light as it was. He was cremated October 15, 1915 in Driehuis. Several years later Johanna and her children settled in Dornach. His son Ferdinand Elisa Hart Nibbrig (22 Jan 1903, Laren - 8 May 1993, Dornach) became a painter. His colleague Otto van Tussenbroek portayed him: "Hij wist wat hij wilde en wat hij wilde wist hij doorgaans te bereiken" (He knew what he wanted and he usually managed to achieve what he wanted). Contemporaries described him as a strong-willed, hard worker with a happy mind and a sincere endeavor. Link to Wikipedia