Ode to Truus Trompert | Ode to Truus Trompert

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Or still an ode to Fie?

Dear Fie Borghmans,

Or should I say Truus? After all, that is what you are called everywhere. Truus Trompert, the artist muse who was immortalized by dozens of (Dutch) artists. Your image is still visible, but who were you really?

You were born Fie Borghmans in 1915, daughter of Johannes, a bricklayer, and Johanna, a seamstress. You grew up in Amsterdam; after your father died, you moved several times around the city. After elementary school you went to work. Thus, through your then employer Ulco Kooistra, you met Bernard Trompert. You married in 1937. 

When the war broke out, you took in a hider. Some time later, however, Bernard had to go into hiding himself. You were pregnant at the time. Unfortunately, both your husband and unborn child did not survive the war. How terrible that must have been. To earn money you started working as a model. You worked under the name Truus Trompert, possibly to protect your identity. Your work as a model did not always go well, you got into debt and were evicted from your house. The artist world then came to your rescue. Through the foundation “the artist model” money was raised to support you.

These artists are also the reason why we still mention your name. Being an artist model for over 40 years has ensured that we still see your face everywhere. You can be seen in the stone worked by sculptors like Charlotte van Pallandt and John Rädecker, their works still visible in Amsterdam.  

Still, I wonder if people know they are looking at you when they look at artwork you have posed for. Often the focus is still on the artist, how he or she has captured their artistic talent in their artwork. And yet your contribution has been of such great importance to the artwork. Even if the spectator recognizes you, who do they see? Do they see Truus Trompert, or do they see Fie Borghmans? And who did you actually see when you looked in the mirror?

You died on April 1, 1977. Because the obituary used your own name and not your stage name, many people in the art world in which you were so active did not know that you passed away. I assume they didn't know your real name, Truus Trompert being your stage name after all. I wonder now, were Fie and Truus the same person? After all, they always existed parallel to each other, never together.

I think you were one and the same. Although we primarily link Truus to the images we see, it is important to remember that with that imagination also comes a person. You also lived outside of your modeling. You had a name. Not a stage name, but a name given to you at birth. A name that belonged to a woman who was born and died in Amsterdam, and who went through an awful lot in her life.

That is why this tribute is for you. Not only for your life as a model, but also to celebrate that you existed and contributed to the growth of this city.

This one is for you, for Fie.