Background
Her father, Johan Diderick, was the Heer (Baron or Lord) of Zuilichem. Her mother, Margaretha, died six days after she was born and her father never remarried, so she remained an only child.
Her father, Johan Diderick, was the Heer (Baron or Lord) of Zuilichem. Her mother, Margaretha, died six days after she was born and her father never remarried, so she remained an only child.
She came from a wealthy noble family. In 1825, she was also able to audit classes at the Rijksakademie in Amsterdam. Frans Jacob Otto Boijmans, a noted art collector, allowed her to copy works from his collection.
From 1826 to 1843, she was a regular participant in Amsterdam"s Exhibition of Living Masters.
In her later years her eyesight declined. By 1864, she was unable to paint and devoted herself entirely to art collecting.
She also used her collection to present lectures and discussions at Arti et Amicitiae, the Pulchri Studio and Pictura in Dordrecht. The rental fees for the hall were put into a fund for the support of financially distressed artists over the age of fifty.
In 1984, part of this fund was used to establish the "Boellaardprijs".
In 1858, she was the first woman to become an honorary member of the "Genootschap Kunstliefde", an artists" society in Utrecht.