Helmantel, Henk

The Netherlands, 1945

Painter

Henk Helmantel is generally regarded as a fine art painter. He mainly paints still lives and church interiors. For him, creating a work of art starts with selecting the right objects. His still lives create a balanced composition of shapes and colours in (at least) one horizontal, vertical or possibly a diagonal line. Rembrandt is a great source of inspiration for Henk Helmantel, whose work he discovered in the Rijksmuseum when he was 15 years old. He is particularly inspired by simple utensils from various cultures. But we also regularly see fruits in his still lives.

Henk lives with his wife Babs Helmantel in a renovated medieval Presbyterian farm in Westeremden village. Their historically authentic home reveals Henk’s interest in the past. When he purchased it he discovered the foundation of an old parsonage in the garden, and he rebuilt it. In the former barn, he created a spacious exhibition space for his permanent painting collection.

Henk Helmantel’s work is nationally and internationally appraised. One of the highlights was his 1997 exhibition in Taiwan, where a hundred works from his own collection were exhibited in the beautiful Kaohsiung museum.