HAVERMAN, Margareta

Dutch painter. She was the daughter of a schoolmaster who moved from Breda to Amsterdam. Her father persuaded Jan van Huysum to take her on as a pupil, despite the secretive nature of the famous flower painter. She moved to Paris (about 1720?), married an architect, and in 1722 became a member of the Académie Royale. She was the second woman to be appointed to the Académie.

One year later, she was expelled because Academicians decided her ‘reception piece’ - the piece presented by every new member - must have been executed by her tutor, Jan van Huysum. They had no evidence to support their case. Nothing further is known of her life.

In addition to being Van Huysum’s only certain pupil and one of his first followers, Haverman may be counted among the earliest Dutch flower painters who pursued careers outside the Netherlands (another being Rachel Ruysch).