Caroline Anne Freiin de Westenholz (
London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
, 1954) is an Anglo-Dutch
art historian and writer. She is the
founder
Founder or Founders may refer to:
Places
*Founders Park, a stadium in South Carolina, formerly known as Carolina Stadium
* Founders Park, a waterside park in Islamorada, Florida
Arts, entertainment, and media
* Founders (''Star Trek''), the ali ...
of the
Louis Couperus Museum
The Louis Couperus Museum is a museum located in the Archipelbuurt neighbourhood of The Hague. The museum celebrates the life and work of the Belle Époque writer Louis Couperus.
Location
The museum was founded in 1996 by Caroline de Westenh ...
in
The Hague
The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital o ...
.
Early life and education
Caroline de Westenholz was born in London in 1954. She is the daughter of Albert Friedrich Paul ''Freiherr'' von Westenholz (1921-2011) and Elisabeth Henriette van Hasselt (1927-2014). In 1960, her mother remarried
Albert Vogel jr. (1924-1982), a Dutch solo-actor who recited literature on stage the world over. He became famous with his literary one man show about
Louis Couperus
Louis Marie-Anne Couperus (10 June 1863 – 16 July 1923) was a Dutch novelist and poet. His oeuvre contains a wide variety of genres: lyric poetry, psychological and historical novels, novellas, short stories, fairy tales, feuilletons and s ...
. In 1973, he published a biography of this author. Caroline's mother was Vogel's fourth wife. Albert Vogel also owned an avant garde
art gallery, ''Orez International Gallery'' (from 1971 called ''Ornis''), which was located at 17, Javastraat,
The Hague
The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital o ...
.
De Westenholz studied
history of art
The history of art focuses on objects made by humans for any number of spiritual, narrative, philosophical, symbolic, conceptual, documentary, decorative, and even functional and other purposes, but with a primary emphasis on its aesthetic visu ...
at the University of
Leiden
Leiden (; in English and archaic Dutch also Leyden) is a city and municipality in the province of South Holland, Netherlands. The municipality of Leiden has a population of 119,713, but the city forms one densely connected agglomeration wi ...
and received her
doctorate
A doctorate (from Latin ''docere'', "to teach"), doctor's degree (from Latin ''doctor'', "teacher"), or doctoral degree is an academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism ''li ...
on a
dissertation about her "step grandfather"
Albert Vogel sr. (1874-1933), who also was a famous solo actor in the Netherlands.
Career
In 1996, De Westenholz became known to the public when she founded the Louis Couperus Museum. It was established in what used to be her stepfather's art gallery. Ever since, the museum has organized many
exhibitions. As off 1995, she is the chair of the museum
foundation
Foundation may refer to:
* Foundation (nonprofit), a type of charitable organization
** Foundation (United States law), a type of charitable organization in the U.S.
** Private foundation, a charitable organization that, while serving a good cause ...
.
In 1985, De Westenholz travelled back to London to become the first European
employee of
MTV Europe
MTV Global (formerly as MTV Europe) is the international version of the American TV channel MTV, a 24-hour music and entertainment TV channel that began broadcasting on August 1, 1987, as part of the worldwide MTV network.
Initially, MTV serve ...
. Later, she co-organized a number of exhibitions about Dutch art in England, one of which took place during the William and Mary celebration year. As off 1992, she continued to work as a
free-lance
''Freelance'' (sometimes spelled ''free-lance'' or ''free lance''), ''freelancer'', or ''freelance worker'', are terms commonly used for a person who is self-employed and not necessarily committed to a particular employer long-term. Freelance w ...
art historian en writer in
Monaco
Monaco (; ), officially the Principality of Monaco (french: Principauté de Monaco; Ligurian: ; oc, Principat de Mónegue), is a sovereign city-state and microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Italian region of Lig ...
but returned to London a few years later.
In 1988 she married Peter Nathaniel de Bruce ffrench-Hodges (1935-2017), who during his working life was Head of Overseas Press with the British Tourist Authority (now Visit Britain) and a cookery book author. She lives in London and the Hague.
Awards and honours
On 18 June 2013 she received a
Zilveren Anjer (Silver Carnation, the equivalent of a British Companion of Honour) from former Queen
Beatrix of the Netherlands
Beatrix (Beatrix Wilhelmina Armgard, ; born 31 January 1938) is a member of the Dutch royal house who reigned as Queen of the Netherlands from 1980 until her abdication in 2013.
Beatrix is the eldest daughter of Queen Juliana and her husban ...
for the founding and upkeep of the Louis Couperus Museum.
The next year, the Council of the city of The Hague awarded her the Victorine Hefting prize, an award for women who have contributed to the culture of this town. In 2022 she was knighted (Knight in the Order of Oranje-Nassau).
Selection of works
* ''I Will Do Anything for England... The Life of Peter ffrench-Hodges. '' London, 2022
** ''Hoger die drempel! Een geschiedenis van Internationale Galerij Orez. Higher that Level! A History of Orez International Gallery. '' Amsterdam, 2016
* ''De familie von Westenholz. Van kastelen tot casino's''. Amsterdam, (November) 2015
* ''From Castles to Casinos. The Von Westenholz Family'. Amsterdam, (November) 2017
* ''De Vogels. Een flamboyante theaterfamilie''. Amsterdam, 2014
* ''Een witte stad van weelde. Louis Couperus en Nice (1900-1910)''. Den Haag, 1996
* John Sillevis en Caroline de Westenholz, ''Louis Couperus Museum 1996-2001. Een uitgave van het Louis Couperus Museum ter gelegenheid van het vijfjarig bestaan op 10 juni 2001''. Den Haag, 2001
* ''Albert Vogel, voordrachtskunstenaar (1874-1933). Een onderzoek naar retorica en voordrachtskunst in het eerste kwart van de twintigste eeuw''.
.l. 2002 (
dissertation)
* Caroline de Westenholz, 'Beardsley at Menton'. in: ''The Death of Pierrot. A Beardsley Miscellany'', ed. by Steven Halliwell and
Matthew Sturgis
Matthew Sturgis (born 1960) is a British historian and biographer.
Early life
Sturgis earned a degree in history at the University of Oxford.
Career
Sturgis has written art criticism for '' Harpers & Queens'', travel journalism for ''The Sunday ...
, London 1998, pp. 9–16
* Caroline de Westenholz, 'Flying Dutchman. Why Louis Couperus is Neglected in his own Country' in: ''The Times Literary Supplement'', nr. 4948, 30 Jan. 1998
References
External links
Film made to the occasion of the Zilveren Anjer Award Ceremony (2013. See https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xr8Agr2wj6g
{{DEFAULTSORT:Westenholz, Caroline de
1954 births
Living people
Dutch art historians
Dutch women historians
Leiden University alumni
Louis Couperus
Women art historians
Writers from London