Johanna Anna Maria "Hannie" Bal (4 August 1921 - 24 October 2012) was a Dutch painter Netherlands Institute for Art History (Hannie Bal)de Scheen, 1969-1970, dl. 1, p. 47 (as: Bal, Johanna Anna Maria ('Hannie')de Jacobs, 1993 and part of the Verve movement.'Schilderen met Verve', AD Haagsche Courant, 21 November 2012

Background

Hannie Bal was born 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 of ...

to a well-off family. Her father was an elderly retired pharmacist.

Education

She attended a girls high school and had a strict upbringing. An artistic aunt noticed her talent for drawing and encouraged her to study at the

Royal Academy of Art, The Hague The Royal Academy of Art (KABK, nl, Koninklijke Academie van Beeldende Kunsten) is an art and design academy in The Hague. Succeeding the ''Haagsche Teeken-Academie'' (part of the Confrerie Pictura), the academy was founded on 29 September 1682, m ...

. There she enjoyed greater freedom, despite the war. She also studied at the

Royal Academy of Fine Arts (Antwerp) The Royal Academy of Fine Arts Antwerp ( nl, Koninklijke Academie voor Schone Kunsten van Antwerpen) is an art academy located in Antwerp, Belgium. It is one of the oldest of its kind in Europe. It was founded in 1663 by David Teniers the Younger, ...

Marriage to Willem Schrofer

Whilst at the

, Hannie fell in love with her portrait painter teacher. Willem Schrofer was a famous painter, but 23 years older than her, previously married, and known as a charmer. Her parents did not approve of the marriage but she disregarded her parents' opinion and married him in 1948. They spent their honeymoon in Paris where they sketched the scenery from the café terraces together. Together they had four children: Leonhard, Annemarie, Yvonne, and Franciscus (Frans). Her son, Frans Schrofer is a well-known Dutch furniture designer.

Work

She produced paintings, watercolors and drawings, with her favourite themes including interiors, non-figurative work, cityscapes, landscapes and still life. She worked in The Hague and in Voorschoten. Together with fellow artists, she and her husband founded The Hague's Verve group. Her work is included in the New Hague School (Nieuwe Haagse School). She took a reluctant break from painting to raise their four children in Voorschoten. However, she was widowed at the age of 47 in 1968 and as her children were older she returned to painting with a passion - using the atelier of her late husband. Together with two friends from the

, (Cara Waller and Jacoba Greven) she embarked on long journeys and their adventures provided great inspiration for her work. She was a part of

The Hague Art Circle The Haagse Kunstkring (English The Hague Art Circle) is an association in The Hague for artists and art lovers. Among the members are visual artists, architects, writers, recitation artists, photographers, musicians and designers. The association ...

(Kunstkring) and was a member of the board. Together with this regained freedom, she moved to a big house in Benoordenhout, filling the empty walls with paintings.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bal, Hannie 1921 births 2012 deaths Dutch painters Painters from The Hague Royal Academy of Art, The Hague alumni