Henri Bol

Henri Bol
Born	Henri Cornelis Bol (1945-01-10)10 January 1945 Eindhoven, Netherlands
Died	10 July 2000(2000-07-10) (aged 55) 's-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands
Nationality	Dutch
Known for	Painting

Works by Henri Bol

Henri Cornelis Bol (10 January 1945 – 10 July 2000) was a Dutch still life painter,^[1] whose work was known for its realism and trompe l'oeil technique.

Bol was born and raised in the Southern Dutch city of Eindhoven, Noord-Brabant. He was the eldest son of painter Kees Bol.^[2] As a young adult Bol studied at the Design Academy Eindhoven (1960-1964), where his father was a teacher, and for several years, he attended the Graphic School in Venlo, Limburg.

In September 1966, he met Gerrie Klinkenberg, eldest daughter of a police inspector, they married in April 1968. In the autumn of 1967 he applied successfully for a job as a creative therapist at the mental hospital Huize Padua in Boekel. Until 1972 the family lived in Handel, a rural town in northeast Brabant. In the same year the house ‘het Blaauw Laaken’ was acquired in the old fortified town of Heusden.

During a visit in the late sixties to the Museum Arnhem, Bol became impressed by Dutch painters Raoul Hynckes, Dick Ket, Pyke Koch and Carel Willink.^[3] It inspired him to seriously focus on painting. Soon Bol was given the opportunity to exhibit his work. With fellow artists, he showed his paintings at Gemert Castle and at the Old Mill in Thorn. In 1973 Bol exhibited his work at the Town Hall in Hilvarenbeek.

An avid collector, he acquired antiques like furniture, tin, enamel, watches, musical instruments, glassware, china and books. Historical objects which served only one purpose, namely to act as subjects in his still lifes.

In the late 1970s Bol exhibited in the Old Town Hall in Beek en Donk and at the Philips Leisure Centre in Eindhoven. Subsequently, he successfully showed his work at Smelink & Stokkink in The Hague, Gallery Mokum in Amsterdam and Gallery Gogol in Düsseldorf, Germany. In 1988 his wife Gerrie Bol-Klinkenberg launched her own Art Gallery ‘het Blaauw Laaken’ where Bol exhibited his paintings with great success until he died in 2000.^[4]

In the mid 1990s RTL Nederland aired ‘Toppers’, presented by Willibrord Frequin. Central in one episode was Mr. Frits Philips (of the technology company). Bol featured in this program because he was working on a still life, commissioned in honor of the 90th anniversary of the industrialist.

In 2002, on the occasion of the publication of a monograph on his work, an exhibition was organized at the Museum Kempenland in Eindhoven, titled "Sophisticated and timeless, still lifes by Henri Bol (1945-2000)".

Bibliography

• Thoben, Peter, Verstilde Stillevens, Museum Kempenland Eindhoven, Eindhoven 2004. pp. 76, 88. ISBN 9072478797 (in Dutch language)
• Schoonen, Rob, Een perfecte fijnschilder, Eindhovens Dagblad 21 februari 2002. pp. 33. (in Dutch language)
• Eeden, Hans van den, Expositie als monument voor Henri Bol, Brabants Dagblad 21 januari 2002. pp 9. (in Dutch language)
• Bodt, Saskia de, Aalst, Tom van der en Bol, Peter, Henri Bol 1945-2000, uitg. Pictures Publishers, Wijk en Aalburg 2001. ISBN 9073187400 (in Dutch language)
• Art Fair Autotron in Rosmalen, Origine 6 1998. pp. 102–104 (in Dutch language)
• Verburgh, Henriette, Stilleven als eeuwig leven: Henri Bol in Heusdens Kunstkabinet Het Blaauw Laaken, Origine 5 1997. pp 64–65. (in Dutch language)
• Aalst, Tom van der, Heusden en Altena, In de ban van het water, uitg. Pictures Publishers, Wijk en Aalburg 1996. pp 94–95. ISBN 9073187249 (in English and Dutch language)
• Hamming, Annelette, Henri Bol en het Stilleven, Tableau 3 1994. pp 82–84. (in Dutch language)
• Vader en zoon, een wereld van verschil, gezamenlijke expositie van Kees en Henri Bol, Palet 246 1993. pp 30–35. (in Dutch language)
• Jacobs, P.M.J., Beeldend Nederland, uitg. drs. P.M.J.Jacobs BV Tilburg 1993.(in Dutch language)
• Scholten-Klinkenbergh, Monique, Twee generaties. Kees en Henri Bol, landschappen en stillevens, Smelik & Stokking Galleries Den Haag 1988.(in Dutch language)
• Visser, Sjouke, 20 realisten; hedendaagse kunst uit Nederland, uitg. Galerie de Vis, Harlingen 1987. (in Dutch language)
• Bol, Henri, Hofmeester, Frans en Lossie, Frans, Fijnschilderen. Het stilleven volgens de werkwijze van Henri Bol, uitg. Cantecleer 1985. ISBN 9789021302461 (in Dutch language)

References