A Space of Their Own

Gesina ter Borch

November 15, 1631 – April 16, 1690

Active in: The Netherlands
Alternate names: Gesina Terborch; Geesien Borch

Biography

Gesina ter Borch was active as a watercolorist during the Dutch Golden Age. Although she was born in Deventer, she was baptized in Zwolle and spent most of her life there. She came from an artistic family, with many of her immediate family members making careers as professional artists. Gesina worked primarily as an amateur artist, rather than producing works for sale. Many of her works, which are small in scale, are housed in albums.

Selected Works

A light-skinned woman with curly reddish-blonde hair, red lips, and a large pearl earring stands in front of a blue drape and looks directly at the viewer. She wears a black dress with a high white lace neck and puffy sleeves, and in one hand she holds a folding fan. Below the image are nine lines of handwritten text, which are not in English.

Gesina ter Borch, Self-Portrait, 1661. Watercolor, 36 x 24.3 cm. Rijksmuseum

A young person with light skin, wavy blonde hair past their shoulders, and an outfit of bright yellow trimmed in bright blue stands at the center of an outdoor scene with a cane held loosely in one hand. On the ground nearby, a piece of metal chest armor, a helmet with a white feather, a small dog, a human skull, a large shell, and a snail are depicted. Behind the central figure, a snake with an open mouth is winding around the edge of some rocks toward the person's head.

Gesina ter Borch and Gerard ter Borch, Memorial Portrait of Moses ter Borch (1645-1667), 1667–69. Oil on canvas, 76.2 x 56.5 cm. Rijksmuseum

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Selected works
 

Circle

Daughter of
Gerard ter Borch

Half-sister of
Gerard ter Borch II

Student of
Harmen ter Borch

Student of
Moses ter Borch

Bibliography

Brouwer, Marjan. De Gouden Eeuw van Gesina ter Borch. Zwolle: Stedelijk Museum Zwolle, 2010.

Cook, Nicole Elizabeth. “By Candlelight: Uncovering Early Modern Women’s Creative Uses of Night.” In Women Artists and Patrons in the Netherlands, 1500–1700. Edited by Elizabeth Sutton, 55–84. Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press, 2019.

Fenlon, Iain, ed. Studies in Medieval and Early Modern Music. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2009.

Gaze, Delia. Dictionary of Women Artists. London and Chicago: Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers, 1997.

Greer, Germaine. The Obstacle Race: The Fortunes of Women Painters and Their Work. New York: Farrar, Straus, Giroux, 1979.

Haak, Bob. The Golden Age: Dutch Painters of the Seventeenth Century. Translated by Elizabeth Willems-Treeman. Zwolle: Waanders, 1984.

Immerzeel, Johannes. De levens en werken der Hollandsche en Vlaamsche kunstschilders, beeldhouwers, graveurs en bouwmeesters, van het begin der vijftiende eeuw tot heden. Amsterdam, 1842–43.

Kettering, Alison MacNeil. Drawings from the Ter Borch Studio Estate. ‘s-Gravenhage: Staatuitgeverij, 1988.

Klarenbeek, Hanna. Penseelprinsessen en broodschilderessen: vrouwen in de beeldende kunst 1808–1913. Bussum: Thoth, 2012.

Kloek, Els, Catherine Peters Sengers, and Esther Tobé. “Lexicon van Noord-Nederlandse kunstenaressen, circa 1550–1800.” In Vrouwen en kunst in de Republiek: Een overzicht. Edited by Els Kloek, Catherine Peters, and Esther Tobé, 119–75. Hilversum: Verloren, 1998.

Luijten, G. “‘De Triomf van de Schilderkunst:” een titeltekening van Gesina ter Borch en een toneelstuk.” Bulletin van het Rijksmuseum 36 (1988): 283–314.

Luijten, H. “‘Swiren vol van leer, amblemsche wijs geduijt:’ een opmerkelijk zeventiende-eeuws poëzie-album van Gesina ter Borch.” Bulletin van het Rijksmuseum 36 (1988): 315–42.

McNeil Kettering, Allison. “Drawings from the Ter Borch Studio Estate.” In Catalogue of the Dutch and Flemish drawings in the Rijksprentenkabinet. Vol. 5. Amsterdam: Rijksmuseum, 1988.

Moes, E. W. “Gerard ter Borch en zijne familie.” Oud Holland 4 (1886): 145–65.

Sutton, Peter. A Guide to Dutch Art in America. Washington, DC: Netherlands-America Amity Trust, 1986.

“Ter Borch, Gesina.” Benezit Dictionary of Artists. 2011. http://www.oxfordartonline.com.proxyiub.uits.iu.edu/benezit/view/10.1093/benz/9780199773787.001.0001/acref-9780199773787-e-00180979.

Tekeningen van de familie Ter Borch. Amsterdam: Rijksmuseum, 1966.

Thieme, Ulrich, and Felix Becker. Allgemeines Lexikon der bildenden Künstler von der Antike bis zur Gegenwart. Leipzig, 1907–50.

Vels Heijn, Annemarie. De ateliernalatenschap van de familie Ter Borch: tekeningen in het Rijksprentenkabinet. Amsterdam, 1988.

Verhave, Jan Peter, and Joke Verhave. Geknipt! Geschiedenis van de papierkunst in Nederland. Zutphen: Walburg, 2008.

Verhave, J., and J. P. “De Nederlands-Italiaanse knipkunstenaar Johannes van Achelom omstreeks 1700.” Oud Holland 128 (2015): 147–62.

Verheggen, Evelyne. Beelden voor passie en hartstocht: bid- en devotieprenten in de Noordelijke Nederlanden, 17de en 18de eeuw. Zutphen: Walburg, 2006.

Vos, J. “Gesina ter Borch: schilderes, dichteres en model (1631–1690).” Jaarboek voor cultuur en historie 14 (1960): 22–43.

Entry Notes

Contributions to timeline and bibliography provided by Indiana University A300 student Constance Brahm