Lecture – Elizabeth Nourse in Volendam

Elizabeth Nourse was an American painter who lived in France for most of her life. In the summer of 1892, she arrived in Volendam, where several foreign artists were staying at the time, drawn by the distinctive surroundings. Everyone in the village still wore the traditional costume, including the striking lace bonnet with wings for women and the baggy trousers.

For Nourse, Volendam was love at first sight. She was particularly charmed by the custom of dressing small children in the same way as adults. “I would give anything to paint this heavenly place,” she wrote to her sister. After staying at the Spaander Hotel for a few nights, she rented a cottage on the Dijk. She had a platform built outside her studio window so that she could have her models pose outdoors, in the notoriously wet and windy Dutch weather, whilst she herself could continue working indoors, well sheltered.Jannig Kwakman’s lecture focuses on the female artists who, like Elizabeth Nourse, drew inspiration from Volendam in the early 20th century.