Name Caroline Westenholz | ||
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Caroline Anne Freiin de Westenholz (London, 1954) is a Dutch art historian. She is the founder of the Louis Couperus Museum in The Hague.
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Biography
Caroline de Westenholz was born in London in 1954. She is the daughter of Albert Friedrich Paul Freiherr von Westenholz (1921-2011) and Elisabeth Henriette van Hasselt (1927-2014). In 1960, her mother remarried Albert Vogel jr. (1924-1982), a Dutch solo-actor who recited literature on stage the world over. He became famous with his literary one man show about Louis Couperus. In 1973, he published a biography of this author. Caroline's mother was Vogel's fourth wife. This marriage made Caroline de Westenholz the stepdaughter of Albert Vogel, who also owned an avant garde art gallery, Orez International Gallery (from 1971 called Ornis), which was located at 17, Javastraat, The Hague.
De Westenholz studied history of art at the University of Leiden and received her doctorate on a dissertation about her "step grandfather" Albert Vogel sr. (1874-1933), who also was a famous solo actor in the Netherlands. In 1996, De Westenholz became known to the public when she founded the Louis Couperus Museum. It was established in what used to be her stepfather's art gallery. Ever since, the museum has organized many exhibitions. As off 1995, she is the chairman of the museum foundation.
In 1985, De Westenholz travelled to London to become the first European employee of MTV Europe. Later, she co-organized a number of exhibitions about Dutch art in England, one of which took place during the William and Mary celebration year. As off 1992, she continued to work as a free-lance art historian en writer in Monaco but returned to London a few years later.
On 18 June 2013 she received a Zilveren Anjer from former Queen Beatrix of The Netherlands for the founding and upkeep of the Louis Couperus Museum (a Zilveren Anjer being a sort of equivalent of a British Companion of Honour). See http://www.prinsbernhardcultuurfonds.nl/t1.asp?path=s5mq5mv7. The next year, the Council of the city of The Hague awarded her the Victorine Hefting prize, an award for women who have contributed to the culture of this town.