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Exhibition Beautiful Botany | Illustrations by Berthe Hoola van Nooten and others
Berthe Hoola van Nooten was one of the finest Dutch botanical illustrators of the 19th century. In a new exhibition, Special Collections showcases her beautiful drawings of tropical plants from Java. Also on display are drawings by scientific illustrators who worked for WUR and its predecessor. The exhibition opens on 7 November 2024 and is on view until 31 March 2025.
Life of Berthe Hoola van Nooten
Hoola van Nooten (née Bertha Hendrica Philippina van Dolder, 1817–1892), was born in Utrecht, Netherlands, and spent her youth in Wageningen, where she was trained as a teacher. After marrying Dirk Hoola van Nooten in 1838, she began to travel. The couple moved to Suriname, where the seed for Berthe’s fascination with tropical botany was planted. In 1845, the family moved to the United States where Berthe opened a girls’ school. After facing financial difficulties following her husband's death in 1847, Hoola van Nooten moved to Java in the Dutch East Indies. To support her children and herself, she worked as a teacher. Around 1860, she also started working as a botanical artist, as she was asked by the government of the Dutch Indies to draw plants from the botanical garden of Buitenzorg (nowadays: Kebun Raya Bogor).
Fleurs, fruits et feuillages choisis: de la flore et de pomone de l’ile de Java
In 1863, Berthe Hoola van Nooten published her famous work "Fleurs, fruits et feuillages choisis: de la flore et de pomone de l’ile de Java." (Flowers, Fruits, and Foliage from the Island of Java). The 40 illustrations are accompanied by a description in French and English of each plant and its culinary, medical, and ethnobotanical uses. Enlarged details of each plant's flower and fruit are also often included. The book is dedicated to Queen Sophia Mathilde, wife of King William III of the Netherlands, who financially supported the book’s publication. The book is a valuable scientific and artistic record of tropical plants, admired for its accuracy and vibrant depiction of nature.
Beautiful botanical illustrations
WUR Library owns several editions of Hoola van Nooten's the beautiful book. These will be on display in the new exhibition. Works from botanical illustrators who worked for WUR and its predecessor, the Agricultural College, will also be shown. These include illustrations by Wil Wessel, Mariet de Geus, Ben van Londen and Johan Haak. Most of these drawings can also be found in the Botany collection of WUR Image Collections.
In November 2024, a biography of Bertha Hoola van Nooten by David Apollonius Coppoolse and Marcel van Dorst will be published. The first copy of this biography will be presented at the opening of the exhibition.
Location and opening hours
You can visit the exhibition from 11 November 2024 until 31 March 2025. Special Collections is open Monday to Friday from 9 am to 1 pm and is closed on national holidays. If you would like to visit the collection in the afternoon or with a group, please e-mail speccoll.library@wur.nl.
Address: Special Collections Reading Room, WUR Library, Wageningen University & Research Forum, Building 102, Droevendaalsesteeg 2, 6706KN Wageningen. Please use the Library's main entrance on the 2nd floor of the building.