A life in Amsterdam and Florence Anna Gildemeester began her days in Amsterdam, where she lived and worked until the turn of the century. Her hands learned the weight of charcoal and the scent of oil through formal training at the Rijksakademie van beeldende kunsten. Under the guidance of M. Heijl and R. Stang, she developed a way of seeing that focused on the quiet details of the world around her. She spent much of her later life in F…