Rient van Santen - Oil on canvas, Coll Bergsma

Singer, poet, and painter Rient van Santen (pictured) was a celebrity in The Hague. After studying art in Antwerp and singing in Berlin, he achieved fame with his piano performances, paintings, and publications "The Piano and Its Composers" (1925) and "Debussy" (1926). In 1915, he met the composer and Sweelinck scholar Bernhard van den Sigtenhorst Meyer, with whom he performed frequently and, from 1919, lived together at Prins Mauritslaan 73 in The Hague. Both men were deeply interested in Eastern culture and collected art objects and antiques during trips to Java and Japan. In their home in The Hague, they set up a small concert hall and an Eastern room.