Portrait of Marie Allebé-Herckenrath, Grandmother of the Painter August Allebé

The portrait of Marie Allebé-Herckenrath, painted by Cornelis Kruseman in 1820, is housed in the Rijksmuseum collection, where it remains accessible to the public. Its depiction of a dignified elderly woman in formal attire exemplifies early 19th-century Dutch portrait conventions, contributing to the study of familial portraiture within Dutch artistic heritage. The work's presence in a major national museum has ensured continued scholarly attention to Kruseman's oeuvre and the role of portraiture in documenting bourgeois family histories.

Cornelis Kruseman’s 1820 oil on canvas presents Marie Allebé‑Herckenrath, the maternal grandmother of later Dutch painter August Allebé. The portrait resides in the Rijksmuseum’s collection, exemplifying the artist’s focus on individual likenesses within a restrained compositional framework.

Created in 1820, the work entered the Rijksmuseum’s holdings as part of its Dutch portrait collection, though the exact acquisition date is not recorded in the provided data. Its presence in the national museum underscores the painting’s relevance to Dutch art history and its connection to the Allebé artistic lineage.

Kruseman, active in the first half of the 19th century, was known for portraiture, biblical subjects, and scenes of Italian peasantry. This portrait aligns with his broader practice of rendering sitters with a blend of realism and gentle idealisation, reflecting contemporary Dutch tastes for modest yet refined representation of family members.