Henry van Ingen

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Van Ingen c. 1877

Henry van Ingen (originally Hendrik van Ingen; 1833–1898) was a Dutch painter and the first Art/Art History professor at Vassar College. He taught from its opening in 1865 until his death in 1898.

He is memorialized by carvings referencing him and his Dutch origin above one of the exterior doors into Taylor Hall (1915), and is the namesake of the Van Ingen Art Library (1937).

Career

Van Ingen studied painting at the Hague Academy of Design from 1844 to 1850, studying landscapes in the style of the Hague School (characterized by emphasizing traditional Dutch subjects) under Hendrik van de Sande Bakhuyzen. He moved to the United States in 1861, teaching art at the University of Rochester.

Van Ingen took lead of the School of Art at Vassar College from its opening, starting as the sole faculty member. He opened the Vassar College Art Gallery that same year on the foundation of a collection of influential Hudson River School paintings purchased by Matthew Vassar from the Rev. Elias Magoon in 1864; this gallery was used by students as a studio space and as a source of paintings to copy for their studies. Under his leadership the Art department grew immensely, eventually encompassing the study of art criticism and art history as well; and with his guidance, the college built a collection of more paintings, drawings, and plaster casts of famous statuary. (Most of the latter were later lost or destroyed, but a copy of Lorenzo Ghiberti's doors to the Florence baptistry survives and is on display on the landing of the main staircase in Taylor Hall.)

Van Ingen died of heart issues on 17 November 1898, in Poughkeepsie.

Personal life

In 1866, he married Josephine Koelmann, a fellow Dutch immigrant to New York from The Hague.