biography of Hubertine Heijermans

Biography of Hubertine Heijermans

In art emotions can play an important role. A no-mind state opens the road for a youthful and enthusiastic approach, but then gradually changes into a mature look: how to obtain a seemingly effortless painted canvas. Painting with oils means trying to master a slippery medium, that can become a friend, willing to reveal its secrets, but with a treacherous side of cracking and getting yellow and dark.

At the age of 60 Hubertine wants a new start and settles next to the Studio of Jesus Peñarreal, one of the rare Spanish 'maestros' still alive, who advices her to look closely at the 19th century paintings of the impressionist Joachin Sorolla and the expressionism of Mir from Catalunya. Thus she passes 3 winters in Alicante, until the sudden death of the master in 2008.

Hubertine Heijermans was born in Amsterdam in 1936 and obtained a scholarship at the Academy, after 3 years of preliminary painting lessons with Jos Rovers. Her teacher is Professor GVA Röling, in the class of drawing after life model, a classical object of study.
The Dutch playwright Herman Heijermans, her great-uncle put a stamp on her youth with his dramatical plays. Her great-aunt Marie Heijermans won a first price with a large painting at the Salon de Paris in 1897. While at her mother's side the brothers Marcel and Edmond Sijben both became artist-painters.

During her studies at the Rijks Akademie in Amsterdam Hubertine has to cut short her study, when she meets her future husband, which leads her to settle in Switzerland in 1958, but where already in 1963 she exhibits 'Tearoom' and 'St.Tropez' in Morges. Another exhibit will be held in Scheveningen in 1964.

Florence (Firenze) 1968-1973. She obtains the credits for her M.A. diploma at an American Graduate School in etching and lithography with Swietlan Kraczyna and Dennis Olsen. The great Florentine master Pietro Annigoni receives her and shows her his recipe for 'tempera grassa'. He introduces lead-white on her palette for a better adherence of the paint and more solidity, while for a better luminosity he recommends the use of varnishes and liquid amber. He reduced the total number of colors, added manganese blue and banned the use of a palette knife. She rents an apartment in Palazzo Sannini at the river Arno and near the Santo Spirito quarter of Florence, which she occupies until 1973, when she has to join her son at Villars s/Ollon near his college.

But soon she exhibits in Galerie Farel, Aigle in 1973, 1974, 1976 and 1992. Yet she has time to participate at Premio Brunellesco in Florence and win a silver cup with 7 portraits of a Haitian girl. More exhibits take place in '77 in Fribourg, Sion and Lausanne (Galerie Etraz) in 1978 in Porrentruy, Bulle (1979) and Villars (1980).

In 1981 Kraczyna advises her to attend the workshop of Luis Camnitzer from New-York in Valdottavo (Italy). It means to study photo-etching and multi-plate etching. The art of 'ideas' may lead to Conceptual Art. Camnitzer himself was formed at Pratt's Institute.
The technique of héliogravure (photo-gravure) follows the 'ancient' way of exposing the light-sensitive metal to the sun (helios).

In 1984 she joins the sculptors of Bex&Arts, and in the same year participates with the 'Concours de la Bâtiaz' in Martigny with a 3 plate color-etching, which was much later noticed by Léonard Gianadda, when he accepted her book about her 'Parcours' in art.

Her press made by the manufacturer BENDINI from Bologna allowed making this large etching of the 'Bâtiaz tower, as it has a table-blade with a width of 54 cm.

In 1987 an auction was held in Ollon, selling the artworks of the local artists, in order to save the Ollon castle 'de la Roche' from collapsing. They were André-Paul Zeller, René Pedretti and Daniel Bolle, Wil Burdet, Coutaz, Rouge, Bauty, Pierre Loye, Raboud and Hubertine Tellander. The 'Chablaisien' wrote an article with photo on the front page about this event.

In Holland the artist exhibits in Delft and Leiden in 1986, and the archives of the R.K.D. in The Hague, while in Zürich Hubertine is documentated in the S.I.K archives.

In 1994-1995 some hundred oilpaintings, watercolors and etchings are sent to Singapore where people are eager to buy European art. But after that exhibit nothing will be the same. Hubertine feels torn between Holland, where she passes the summer and Spain, where she started to spend all winter to study the Spanish painters from the 19th century. In 2004 and 2006 she already shows her 'Spanish' paintings in Aubonne, but is also captured by the colorful fashion-shows of Yves St.Laurent, Ungaro and Jean-Paul Gaultier. She notices the striking Carla Bruni on the catwalk of Dries van Noten. But nevertheless she keeps track of the Circus Knie, when they pass through Aigle and even follows them for a while.

In 2006 the artist discovers Bages, a small fishing village in the Departement of the Aude. She hopes to be able to soon return to this wonderful region near the Spanish border.

Edition: Hubertine Heijermans: Parcours d'une artiste-peintre by Pierre-Alain Genillard - 2009
Edition: Monnaz sur Morges Survol pittoresque d'un village by Hubertine Heijermans - 2010
In 2005 The Municipality of Ollon decided to buy the painting 'En Verneyre'. In 2008 they added another painting of 'Tractor labouring near Saint-Triphon'.
- Museum Jenisch at Vevey (collection of graphic artwork) Switzerland, see museum's homepage
- Museum l'Elysée at Lausanne (45 photo-etchings) Switzerland
- Museum Bommel van Dam at the town of Venlo in the Netherlands
- Historical Museum du Chablais at La Porte du Scex at Vouvry, 80 etchings, lithos or woodcuts
- Museum of Aigle - etchings and a copper plate besides a plank of a woodcut