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Elizabeth A.Sackler Center for Feminist Art

Joanna Koerton

b. 1650, Amsterdam; d. 1715, Amsterdam

The correct spelling of this name is JOANNA KOERTEN.

The multitalented Dutch artist Joanna Koerten (married name Bloek) excelled in painting, drawing, embroidery, glass etching, and wax modeling, but she achieved fame as a silhouette cutter, the art of creating images from pieces of cut paper mounted on a black background. Koerten, whose clientele included Peter the Great and the queen of England, commanded high prices for her silhouette landscapes, seascapes, flowers, portraits, and religious scenes.