by Hans Konijn
On November 14, 2007, we received a donation of a painting by C.H. Willemse. The painting was created around 1955 by Jan Visser and depicted a woman reading in a tram compartment. The tram was reportedly on the Haarlem – Zandvoort route. The name ‘Eline’ was written on the back of the painting, so for a long time, it was assumed that this was the woman’s name. In February 2020, I read on the internet about one Eline Visser, the granddaughter of the painter. From the email correspondence that followed, it became clear that she was unaware of who the woman in the painting might be. She explained: “The reason it bears my name most likely has to do with the distribution of my grandfather’s paintings at the time between my half-brother, half-sister, and me. I am not familiar with the painting itself. The lady in the painting is also unknown to me. My mother was born in 1939, and it is not my father’s first wife either.”
In January 2026, I received a note from a front desk employee at the museum. I was asked to call a woman who knew something about the painting by Jan Visser. This woman, Mrs. A. van den Bogaert, told me that she had seen a painting from the Zandvoorts Museum on Facebook in which she recognized her mother. It was the woman in the blue tram. Her mother, Mrs. C. Martin – van Schie, had met Visser on the tram. He was so impressed that he asked her to pose for him. Mrs. Martin – van Schie lived in Bentveld at the time and often took the tram to work. There are still several photographs of the posing sessions that can confirm the identity of the woman in the painting. The young woman in the “Blue Tram” now has a name. How wonderful that can be.
Read more about Jan Visser at Stories