Hubertine Heijermans

Hubertine Heijermans

'Self-portrait' by Hubertine Heijermans, 1959
Born 8 January 1936
Amsterdam
Nationality Dutch

Hubertine Heijermans is a figurative painter, a multi-plate etching artist and Swiss printmaker, living in Vaud, Switzerland since her marriage in 1958.

Early life

Hubertine Heijermans was born in Amsterdam.[1] on 8 January 1936. She was educated at the Barlaeus Gymnasium, took painting lessons from 1954-1957 with Jos Rovers,[2] and then won a scholarship for the Rijksakademie and worked with professor GVA Röling (1904–1981) and Jan Wiegers. In 1958 she met Nils Tellander, born in the Netherlands, but a volunteer in the British Army during the second world war. They got married in September of that year and settled in Lausanne, where in 1960 their son Anian was born. From 1968 until 1972 Heijermans studied etching technics at an American high school of the European Section of Rosary College of Arts and Sciences in Illinois USA, in Florence Italy. The school was situated in San Domenico di Fiesole overlooking Florence and it was run by Dominican Sisters. In order for her to not remain all day in the convent, her etching teacher Swietlan Kraczyna found a studio in a palazzo overlooking Florence and the river Arno. In 1972 Heijermans won the Premio Brunellesco (a Florentine prize for painters and sculptors) with a series of seven oilpaintings, honored by Piero Bargellini the Mayor of Florence. Then she returned to Villars in Switzerland, taking with her the 200 kilogram etching press from Bendini-Bologna. The couple Tellander divorced in 1973. Nils Tellander died in 2001 in the South of France.

Ollon Fountain 'Le Cotterd' Etching 1981

Portraits

Heijermans painted a series of portraits of actresses or ‘Haute-Couture’ models of Dior, Jean-Paul Gaultier[3] and Yves Saint Laurent. Her brushes captured Isabelle Adjani[4] playing in 'La Reine Margot' and Emmanuelle Béart,[5] in the French movie 'Une Femme Française', Carla Bruni, top model in the 90s of Yves Saint-Laurent and other models working for Dior, where John Galliano was head-designer from 1996-2011, when a scandal forced him to quit. Hubertine also found inspiration with the Swiss Circus Knie[6] and in 2003, when the family Knie celebrated their 200-year existence, Heijermans offered her painting, Géraldine equestrian acrobate as a gift, which is now hanging in the main office of the Circus' Headquarters in Rapperswil.

Painters from Italy and Spain

In 1970 Pietro Annigoni (Florence) Italy showed her ancient techniques in oil painting like the preparation of egg tempera, and explained the use of flake white, even when this is a toxic material, but because, he said, it would strengthen underlying first coats of her paint.[7] His recipes including the white toxic lead powder improved the adherence of her paint and reduced the process of darkening and getting yellow with time. In the 90s Jesus Peñarreal equally showed the value of thin layers of glaze, which flake white allowed to paint. Peñarreal then sent Heijermans to study the Spanish impressionist painter Joaquín Sorolla y Bastida in the Museu de Belles Arts de València where students can draw.[8]

Exhibits

Exhibits in Florence (Italy) took place in 1969, 1970 and 1972 and in Switzerland from 1973–2008, after she settled in the Commune of Ollon. She exhibited in Aigle, Lausanne, Montreux, Fribourg, Sion, Porrentruy and in Aubonne[9] near Lausanne. In 1994 Heijermans showed hundreds of oil paintings, watercolors and etchings in Singapore.[10] Other exhibits were held in The Netherlands, in the Scheveningen (1964), Delft (1970), Amsterdam (1982) and Leiden (1983). The Musée Jenisch in Vevey[11] now keeps 80 etchings, lithos and héliogravures, since recent work was added in 2007. The museum for photography Musée de l'Élysée in Lausanne conserves 45 photogravures since Charles-Henri Favrod in 1993 made his choice of her héliogravures as dust grain photogravures are called in French. In fact she mastered photogravure and multi-plate color etching when working in Studio Luis Camnitzer in Italy with David Finkbeiner from Pratt's Institute in New York. This technic is strenuous and difficult, including many detailed manipulations and only printing studios like hers or the one of Sarto in St.Prex create outstanding prints. The Dutch Museum van Bommel van Dam keeps 23 etchings and lithographies printed by herself on her own manually driven press since 1978, only accepted after a vote of the Municipality of the town of Venlo. Her graphic work can also be found at the Dominican University, Illinois. In July 2011 the Musée historique du Chablais of the Château de la Porte du Scex added 2 oil paintings to their collection of etchings, lithos, héliogravures and woodcuts of which 80 artistproofs and handprinted originals were conserved. For the year 2012 from the 26th of April until the 28th of October the Musée historique du Chablais in Vouvry organized 2 exhibits showing the history of the region, where the artist lives and works. For that reason her etchings, watercolors and oil paintings, depicting sites of the region called 'Les Ormonts' or the plain where the Rhône river joins the Lake of Geneva were on display and accompanied a show of the history of health resorts and hotels.[12] An honorable award awaited her in Ollon, when in 2014 the Municipality invited her to receive the so-called 'Mérite Boyard' 2013 which included a bronze sculpture by André Raboud of Saint-Triphon and a fair compensation for her efforts to become known with her art on a national and international scale.

Emmanuelle Béart 1995
Oil painting Spain 2003
Bonjour photo-etching 1981
Ollon Rooftops photo-gravure1981
Villars Mountain hut photo-gravure 1984
La Sallaz Farm of the Abbey photo-gravure executed by the artist

Publications

References

  1. ↑ Rochat, Céline (20 July 2010). "Peintre, elle relate sa vie dans un livre" (in French). 24 Heures. Retrieved 13 July 2011.
  2. ↑ Jos Rovers
  3. ↑ Jean-Paul Gaultier
  4. ↑ Dominique Blanc et Isabelle Adjani La Reine Margot
  5. ↑ Une femme française
  6. ↑ Equestrian art of the circus
  7. ↑ Painting with Annigoni by Dawn Cookson ISBN 0-906290-37-6, ISBN 978-0-906290-37-8
  8. ↑ Biography of Hubertine Heijermans St. Triphon
  9. ↑ "Galerie du Clocher".
  10. ↑ Mention in The Straits Times, 10 August 1994.
  11. ↑ collections.
  12. ↑ Musée historique du Chablais Vouvry Switzerland

External links

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