首頁 ⁄ English ⁄ Helmantel <> The Beauties of Simplicity： Henk HelmantelTo celebrate the 30th anniversary of the “CHIMEI Arts Award” and manifest the charm of realist art, Henk Helmantel, a contemporary master of realism, is especially invited and the special exhibition, The Beauties of Simplicity: Henk Helmantel, is held. This exhibition demonstrates the essence of Helmantel's artistic creation over the past half a century and CHIMEI Museum cordially invites you to experience the “beauty” of ordinary life !2018/1/25-2019/2/25 PAST EXHIBITION Introduction Helmantel Exhibition Description Exhibition List Events Tour Info Henk Helmantel http://www.helmantel.nl Henk Helmantel was born in 1945 in a small town called Westeremden of Groningen in the Northern Netherlands. He is an outstanding representative of Groningen fine painters. His parents’ pious belief in Christianity had a profound influence on his life philosophy and artistic creation. Helmantel already demonstrated his artistic talent when he was a child. When Helmantel was fifteen, with his frequent visits to the Rijksmuseum, which had deepened his understanding of and passion for art, and, most importantly, made him determined to become an artist himself. In 1961 Helmantel began his artistic training at the Minerva Art Academy and laid a solid foundation for his painting expertise. From the exposure to impressionist and post-impressionist techniques at the academy, he acquired various techniques of light treatment and compositional arrangement. At the same time, the academy also provided training in modern art. Through his studying abstract colors and expression methods, Helmantel developed a more comprehensive understanding of art and further confirmed his passion for classical art. Moreover, with his preference for classical paintings and inspirations from those masters of art before him, this period of studying and exploring at the academy laid the foundation for his “Helmantel style of painting.” In 1967, after Helmantel completed his military service, he started his career as a professional artist, and moved into The Weem of Westeremden in his hometown the year after. According to historical records, the building dates back to the 13th century, Helmantel decided to rebuild the building to its original appearance, and the restoration of the house didn’t complete until 2004. To him, both history and faith are part of his daily life which allows him to find support for his heart and soul in the pursuit of artistic creation. In his development as a painter, one can see his progression through time. Helmantel’s paintings are often compared to those by Dutch artists of the 17th century. Even though there are similarities in their methods of representing natural light indoors and still-life objects, Helmantel’s painting is based on his review of and insights into the development of art from the past to the present, rather than on merely copying the works of old masters. In the 1970s when photographic realism prevailed, Helmantel still maintained his passion and moved forward to “fine painting.” His fine brush strokes bring subtle details to life and reflect his extraordinary command of techniques. His paintings are captivating with a sense of intense harmony beyond realistic depiction. In addition, inspired by Ket’s top-down perspective and composition, Helmantel pays much attention to the overall expression on his paintings. From Mondrian’s works, he has learned that the conceptualization of an object’s form, colors, and other elements is even more important than the object itself, for the interconnection among these elements is the key to creating a sense of harmonious aesthetics in his paintings. Since 1980, along with the expansion of Helmantel’s personal collection and the improvement of his command of painting techniques, Helmantel’s works have started to show an increasing diversity in contents and changes in style, composition, and color use. Helmantel has maintained the three-dimensional aspect of objects and highlighted the contrast between primary and secondary elements by using different levels of light and colors in his paintings. Sometimes, he puts all the objects in a line with each of them becoming a focal point in the painting, or juxtaposes objects of different types, forms, and materials all in one composition, treating elements with different brush strokes to express the subtle textures and volumes of different materials. The Western art world with the emergence of diverse art trends and movements, Helmantel has adhered to his artistic style for over half a century, which creates an extraordinary chapter in the history of fine painting. In 2014, Helmantel was made a “Knight in the Order of Orange-Nassau” to honor his contribution to the Dutch community, which adds icing to the cake of his extraordinary career as an artist. It is no doubt that Helmantel has reached the peak of the global art community and be called a master of realist art of this century.