Kate Bisschop-Swift

Places of work recorded in the authority are London, Leeuwarden and Scheveningen. Works named in the authority record are The Widow of a Painter. Work by Kate Bisschop-Swift is recorded in the collections of Fries Museum, Rijksmuseum, National Museum Paleis het Loo and Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam.

• Name — Kate Bisschop-Swift • Born — 6 April 1834 • Birthplace — London, England • Died — 16 May 1928 • Place of death — The Hague, Netherlands • Occupation — Painter

She was largely self-taught. In the late 1860s, she took some lessons from the Dutch painter, Christoffel Bisschop. They were married in January 1869, and she went with him to the Netherlands. They lived in Scheveningen at a villa named "Frisia", although she worked mostly in Leeuwarden. In 1874, together with Gerardina Jacoba van de Sande Bakhuyzen, Sientje van Houten and Margaretha Roosenboom, she painted the "Haagse weeskinderen" (Hague Orphans), as a gift for Queen Sophie on the occasion of the 25th jubilee of Sophie's husband, King William III. Two years later, she was a co-founder of the Hollandsche Teekenmaatschappij; exhibiting regularly throughout The Hague as well as at the Stedelijk Museum. Bisschop-Swift exhibited her work at the Palace of Fine Arts at the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago, Illinois. Her husband died in 1904. She was named an honorary member of the "Royal Frisian Society for History and Culture" in 1914. After her death, her remaining works and belongings were transferred from her villa to the Fries Museum. This included a large selection of jewelry given to her by various European sovereigns.