Els Noordhof
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24 February 1924
Els Noordhof | |
|---|---|
| Born | Elisabeth Johanna Noordhof 24 February 1924 Bloemendaal, Holland |
| Died | 7 March 2013 (aged 89) Otago, New Zealand |
| Occupations | Illustrator, artist |
Elisabeth Johanna Noordhof (24 February 1924 – 7 March 2013), known as Els Noordhof or Els Noordhof-Smith, was a Dutch-born portrait artist and book illustrator.
Elisabeth Johanna Noordhof was born in 1924 in Bloemendaal, Holland, the daughter of Gosse Eilke Noordhof.[1] She earned a Master of Fine Arts degree from the Rijksmuseum in 1945.[2] Her older brother George H. Noordhof became a filmmaker in England.[3]
Career
Noordhof lived in England and the United States after World War II.[4][5] She and her family settled in New Zealand in 1966.[2][6] She had a studio in Dunedin, and taught at the University of Otago's summer arts schools in Kurow.[2] She painted the official portraits of several mayors of Dunedin, though mayor Sukhi Turner was not fond of her Noordhof portrait, and replaced it with a photograph in the city council chambers.[7] She was a patron of the Otago Art Society.[8]
Books illustrated by Els Noordhof
- Ruth Dallas, Ragamuffin Scarecrow (1969)[9][10]
- Olive Smithells, Look After Your Back, Streamline Your Front (1970)[11]
- Esther Glen, Six Little New Zealanders (1983)[12]
- Esther Glen, Uncles Three at Kamahi (1985)[13]
