Girl with Grapes

Willem Carel Nakken was born in The Hague on 9 April 1835. He was a Dutch painter, watercolourist, and draughtsman, renowned for his lively animal paintings, genre scenes, and landscapes.

Nakken was born in The Hague, the son of wine merchant Jan Willem Nakken and Harmina Katrina Kamperman. He studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in The Hague and at the Antwerp Art Academy. Nakken was a pupil of Anthonie Franciscus Dona, who was known for his paintings of cattle, and he developed into a skilled painter of genre scenes, landscapes, city views, still lifes, and animals, earning particular recognition as a painter of horses.

Around 1859, he worked for some time in Oosterbeek, and he undertook study trips to Normandy, painting in Le Havre and Honfleur. Nakken painted extensively in the surroundings of The Hague, including on the beach at Scheveningen, and also worked outside his home region in the Ardennes and in South Limburg. In the latter part of his life, he lived in Rijswijk, near The Hague.

Nakken was a member of the artists’ society Arti et Amicitiae in Amsterdam, the painters’ society Pulchri Studio, and the Hollandsche Teekenmaatschappij in The Hague. He exhibited in both The Hague and Amsterdam. His work is included in the collections of the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, the Gemeentemuseum The Hague, Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen in Rotterdam, the Arnhem Museum, and the Frans Hals Museum in Haarlem.
Willem Carel Nakken passed away in January 1926 at the age of 90 in his home in Rijswijk. He was buried on 7 January 1926 at the Nieuwe Algemene Begraafplaats in Rijswijk.