Marie van Regteren Altena belonged to the Amsterdam Joffers, eight well-to-do women artists, who, from the late 19th century until well into the 20th century, came together to paint and discuss art. Whenever the Joffers exhibited their work they tended to do it as a group. Van Regteren Altena came from an aristocratic Amsterdam family in which art played a major role. Her brother Martinus was known as a figure painter, while her sister Johanna Quirina was a recognised decorative artist. Marie mainly painted impressionist flowers and still lifes, but she also made figure representations. Like nearly all her artistic ‘sisters’ in the group, she trained at the Amsterdam Rijksacademie. She was a member of the artist societies Arti et Amicitiae and St. Lucas, in the capital, and the Pulchri Studio in The Hague.