Random Inspiration: Henk Helmantel Part II

The technique which Helmantel employs is traditional and precise. Painting mainly on Masonite, using the best, modern, oil paints, he first makes a quite accurate preparatory drawing. He then paints an initial, thin layer of paint, which is then followed by a second, thicker one, giving the painting more substance. In the third layer he refines the details, and in the fourth painting pass, a very transparent layer is added, which gives the painting a luminous quality. Gradually, after embarking upon his professional career, his style of painting became more detailed and refined which resulted in him using thinner pigment layers. Presently, however, his technique has gone back to a heavier use of paint, similar, in a way, to his earlier impressionistic style, though in a vary refined way. He now paints certain parts with a palette knife or a broad brush, though he does so without sacrificing the suggestion that it is finely painted. This way of working allows him to work in a much larger size. Typically, he completes an average-sized painting in one to two weeks.

Often, Helmantel's still lifes depict dead birds, mice, fruit, or old, well-used objects, near completely worn, but distressed in such a way that makes these objects timeless. Despite the ragged look of Helmantel's subjects, his still lifes form pictures that exudes beauty, peace and harmony. In depicting them this way Helmantel demands respect for the simple things that also have a place in God's world; by painting with such attention, he lifts these objects out of the realm of the mundane.

Modern day items will not be found in Helmantel's work, though, elements of more modern art do permeate all facets of his paintings. What he learned from Piet Mondrian, for instance, is to look primarily at the composition, line, colour, and the overall pattern, which are all more important then the objects themselves. He searches for the connection, rhythm and harmony between the different elements in his paintings, and, as he puts it, "good atmosphere." The "good" of which Helmantel speaks unmistakably has a devout and pious connotation stemming from his strong religious beliefs, and this results in depictions of a world free of chaos, where everything has its place in a carefully thought-out order. These still lifes are sober, never crowded, with a clear northern light shining over the scene from the right, and always painted with a quiet intensity all his own.

The sense of beauty central to his still lifes can also be found in his paintings of Romanesque and Gothic church interiors. Inspired by the same atmosphere that also struck the Dutch Golden Age painter, Pieter Jansz Saenredam, Helmantel's interiors emanate solemnity and serenity. Fine nuances in colour enliven the architecture, and the different shapes and patterns, together with the use of perspective, suggest a sense of divine space. In these paintings, Helmantel recreates the serene peacefulness characteristic of those early churches stripped bare by the Protestant Reformation's sober and austere conception of worship space.

His monk-like dedication to his craft has earned Helmantel the respect and admiration of the generation of Dutch realist painters that came after him, and of hordes of art lovers from all parts of the world. Though very grateful and proud of his success, Helmantel remains a man of simple means, not owning a car or computer, never going on vacation, and spending all his time working, not just out of discipline, but because of an intense and overwhelming need to paint.

~ Fabio Pravisani, guest contributor

[part 1]

Portrait of Henk Helmantel by British artist Michael Reynolds