The original title to this work, Holländisches Interieur, appearing in the Photographiche Rundschau in 1903, was changed by this archive in early 2017 as a result of information supplied by the present-day owner of the home seen in this photograph, located in Heerde, the Netherlands. At the time, it was the residence of painter Johannes Leonardus (Jan) Kleintjes. (1872-1955) In one part of the home used as his studio, Jan Kleintjes remodeled the interior of a room to be a copy of a typical farmer’s home, using it as a background for his genre paintings. What is also fascinating is that Jan Kleintjes spouse was the equally important artist Hedwig Cecile Albertine van Osselen. (1871-1936)

According to the Museum Geelvinck at Huize Kolthoorn website, (when this photograph was taken in 1903 or before) the couple would have been living in the former coach house on the grounds of the main house-known today as the Huize Kolthoorn, built in 1879, and purchased by the couple in 1899. The collaboration of two artists sharing a studio would have certainly encouraged mutual creative efforts.

Speaking of the model peering through the window, the homeowner states:

The girl in a farmer’s traditional “Sunday” costume of the village is a model (although she is indeed a poor, small farm girl of this village.). It is certainly not a “Holland interior” (Holland being the western part of the Netherlands and this is the Veluwe, a distinctively different part of our country, more to the east). An alternate photograph of the same room shows the person seated at the table in the foreground of this composition is a young woman.

My original comments for this photo when first posted to this site:

This unusual and intriguing genre photograph could almost be described as allegorical in nature: a woman who appears to be sewing a garment sits at a table with her back to the camera while another woman stares through the window at her rigidly and with an expressionless demeanor. The simple title of Holland Interior given to the photograph establishes place however-the passing of over 100 years since Dr. Kleintjes took it gives a modern-day viewer pause as to its possible symbolism or motive.

(The) Veluwe: is a forest-rich ridge of hills (1100 km2) in the province of Gelderland in the Netherlands. The Veluwe features many different landscapes, including woodland, heath, some small lakes and Europe’s largest sand drifts. (Wikipedia)

Heerde:  a municipality and town in the eastern Netherlands. (Wikipedia)

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Dr. Leonardus Louis Kleintjes: 1875-?

A Doctor of medicine, L.L. Kleintjes was active in alpine climbing, an 1899 reference listing him a member of the Academic Alpine Club in Munich. He most likely developed an interest in amateur photography in this capacity, and in April, 1902 had been elected a member of the Club of Amateur Photographers in Munich. (1.)

Professionally, Dr. Kleintjes is listed as having edited or perhaps translating volumes on medicine in 1904 and 1906. (2.)

Timeline

1875: Born 12 August, in ‘s-Gravenhage, Rotterdam, Zuid-Holland, Nederland

1904: #368 Interieur Holländisches exhibited as part of the ninth international photography exhibition of the Photo-Club de Paris from May 3 to June. The artists address listed as Krankenhaus L. D., 6, Munich (Bavaria).

1909: Sixth American Photographic Salon, exhibits 2 photographs.

1936:  Exhibits as part of the Eighty-First Annual Exhibition of the Royal Photographic Society of Great Britain.

1944: Printed as living in Zurich, the artist has two works listed in the publication Camera: “Am Wäscheschrank” and “München”.

1955: Record of death of Franziska Maria Augusta Stephan, born in 1873, the wife of L.L. Kleintjes, on 20 July.

-There is believed to be a family relationship with the artist Jan Kleintjes, although it is unknown, along with his date of passing, as of this writing in January, 2025.

1. Photographische Rundschau, 1902, 7 Heft, p. 142: “Mr. Louis Kleintjes, cand. med, had been admitted to the club.”
2. Ueber einen Fall von Epithelioma adenoides cysticum (Brooke). 20 pp. 8°. München, C. Wolf & Sohn, 1904; Hygiene in den Bergen. 21 pp. 8°. München, O. Genelies, 1906. In 1918, Kleintjes also translates the volume Die Blutdruckmessung (Blood pressure measurement.) by author Dr. D, de. Vries Reilingh, Professor at the Flemish University: “Translated by Dr. med. L. L. Kleintjes. Munich 1918″