Betsy Repelius

Johanna Elisabeth Repelius, known as Betsy (31 January 1848 in Amsterdam – 23 January 1921 in Amsterdam) was a Dutch painter and watercolorist who specialized in simple, one-figure, genre scenes.

Biography She was the youngest of eight children born to a wealthy merchant family, engaged primarily in the cheese trade. Against her father's wishes, she decided to become an artist and took her first lessons from the history painter Petrus Franciscus Greive. Later, she studied with , who was known for his popular genre scenes. From 1873 to 1876, she was enrolled at the Rijksakademie, where her primary instructor was August Allebé. She also studied watercolor painting with Nicolaas van der Waay, who also became close friend.

Because of her wealth, she was sometimes criticized as being a mere dilettante. She donated to charity quite freely, especially to organizations for the blind. In her will, she left significant amounts to all her friends. The flower painter Marie Heineken, niece of the brewer Gerard Adriaan Heineken, received the contents of her studio.