Artwork

Jeanette Antoinette Pietermaat (1818-70). Echtgenote van Pieter Mijer

Jeanette Antoinette Pietermaat (1818-70). Echtgenote van Pieter Mijer is an oil painting by the Realist artist Johan Heinrich Neuman. It dates from 1888 and is held in the collection of the Rijksmuseum.

About this work

Subject & Meaning

The work depicts Jeanette Antoinette Pietermaat (1818–1870), identified specifically as the wife of Pieter Mijer.

The work depicts Jeanette Antoinette Pietermaat (1818–1870), identified specifically as the wife of Pieter Mijer. Created by Johan Heinrich Neuman in 1876, the painting functions as a formal portrait that captures the sitter's identity and social standing through direct representation. As a genre portrait, the primary meaning of the piece lies in its commemoration of Pietermaat as an individual and as a spouse, preserving her likeness for posterity.

The work does not appear to employ complex allegorical symbolism beyond the standard conventions of mid-19th-century portraiture, focusing instead on the factual depiction of the subject.

Technique & Style

The work is an oil painting executed on canvas, measuring 75 cm by 62 cm, created in the Netherlands in 1876. It depicts Jeanette Antoinette Pietermaat as the wife of Pieter Mijer and belongs to the portrait genre, reflecting Neuman's formal approach to likeness and composition.

History & Provenance

The portrait of Jeanette Antoinette Pietermaat was painted by Johan Heinrich Neuman in 1876. It entered the Rijksmuseum collection in the Netherlands, where it remains on display.

The work was created as a commissioned portrait of the subject, who was the wife of Pieter Mijer. Its dimensions are 75 cm in height and 62 cm in width, and it is executed in oil paint on canvas.

The painting's provenance is documented through its acquisition by the Rijksmuseum, reflecting a clear ownership chain from the artist to the museum.

The portrait of Jeanette Antoinette Pietermaat is held in the collection of the Rijksmuseum in the Netherlands. The work, an oil painting on canvas created by Johan Heinrich Neuman in 1876, depicts the subject who lived from 1818 to 1870. While the source confirms the painting's location within the museum and its creation date, it does not provide a specific inventory or accession number for the piece. Furthermore, the available records contain no information regarding a history of exhibitions for this specific portrait.

Overview

This oil portrait, painted in 1888 by Johan Heinrich Neuman, depicts Jeanette Antoinette Pietermaat, wife of Pieter Mijer. The work is part of the Rijksmuseum’s collection and represents a quiet, formal study of a 19th-century Dutch woman. Rendered with precision, the painting captures her likeness in a restrained, dignified manner, reflecting the conventions of domestic portraiture of the period.

Context

Created during a period when Dutch society increasingly valued personal and familial representation in art, this portrait reflects the decline of aristocratic grandeur in favor of modest, private dignity. Neuman, though not widely known, worked within a tradition of regional portraitists who catered to professional and merchant classes seeking to commemorate family members with sincerity rather than spectacle.

Legacy

The portrait endures as a quiet example of late 19th-century Dutch domestic portraiture. It contributes to the Rijksmuseum’s narrative of everyday life, offering insight into how women of the middle class were visually represented, not as symbols, but as individuals. Its restrained aesthetic continues to resonate in studies of gender, identity, and the evolution of portraiture beyond formal conventions.