Visser't Hooft (née Hamiln) was born in Buffalo, New York, to a family of wealthy intellectuals.
[2] During this time, she had an affair with the Russian artist Boris Grigoriev, although there are conflicting reports of whether this happened in New York or Paris.
[1][3] Following her schooling, Visser't Hooft travelled with her parents and sister, Mary Hamlin Goodwin, to Taos, New Mexico in 1928.
[3] Visser't Hooft subsequently returned on several occasions to visit her, meeting artists such as Georgia O'Keeffe, Andrew Dasburg, and Frieda Lawrence.
[3] A solo retrospective of Visser't Hooft's paintings and drawings was held in 1973 at the Charles Burchfield Center.