Jan Hendrik Weissenbruch

Dutch painter of the of the Hague School. He was the second son of the chef and restaurateur Johann Weissenbruch (ca 1797) and Johanna Hendrica Zaag, who married on 29 March 1815 in Den Haag. The etymology of the name Weisssenbruch is unknown, but in the case of painters it might refer to the refraction (Brechung) of the white light showing a rainbow of colors. According to the municipal archive, their daughter Johanna Hendrica Louisa Weissenbruch (?- 11 April 1824 10h30 AM, Den Haag) died 2 years old. An unnamed still born son died 7 January 1828 at 7 PM in Den Haag. An elder brother Johannes Hendrik Carel Weissenbruch 8 March 1921 at 13h30 died at age 4. At age 16 he became a student of Johannes Low. Later he studied under the painter and decorator Bartholomeus Johannes van Hove (28 October 1790, Den Haag - 8 November 1880, Den Haag). He was noted for his watercolours, becoming a member of the Société Belge des Aquarellistes in Brussel in 1866 and being an erector of the Dutch version of it in 1876, together with Anton Mauve, Jacob Maris and Hendrik Willem Mesdag. He made his best work in his later life. In 1876 the Art Association of Montreal exposed his work in their Loan Exhibitions. He died on 24 March 1903 in Den Haag. Personal Weissenbruch stayed his whole life in the "Atelier Weissenbruch" at the Kazernestraat 112 in Den Haag, together with his sisters, the house where he was born. Vincent van Gogh visited him several times, before his travel to London (May 1873) and called him "De vrolijke Weis" (le joyeux Weiss). He had a daughter Maria Leonie Wilhelmina Adelina Weissenbruch (ca 1851-22 March 1945) and a son, Willem Johannes Weissenbruch (14 February 1864 10 AM, Den Haag - 17 October 1941, Aerdenhout), who would become his student. At age 55, on 17 June 1880, he married their mother Suzanna Petronella Geertruida Schouw (15 May 1835, Lobith) in Rotterdam. Johannes' cousin Johannes (Jan) Weissenbruch (18 March 1822 9 PM, Den Haag -15 February 1880, Den Haag) was a well-known painter of townscapes. Another cousin Frederik Hendrik Weissenbruch (1 June 1828 16h30, Den Haag - 25 June 1887, Den Haag) was a lithographer, while his younger brother Frederik Johan, his uncle Daniel and his nephew Isaac (1826-1912) were all engravers. Link to Wikipedia