Hendrik Heyligers [1877-1967]
Indo-Dutch Realist genre oil painter
Piazza di San Marco, Venice, ca.1920s
Oil on canvas
30 x 24 inches [unframed] | 40-5/8 x 34 3/4 inches [framed]
Signed at lower right: ‘H. Heyligers’.
Inscription on the stretcher verso: ‘San Marco…’.

TITLES:
2023 Piazza di San Marco, Venice
2016 Piazza di San Marco, Venice
2010 Piazza di San Marco, Venice

CONDITION:
Original untouched condition.  Slight surface abrasions. Period frame.

DESCRIPTION:
The painting shows a view of an outdoor café with multiple figures, including four women in the foreground. The work is a night scene with street lights lighting the view from the midground. There is an original inscription on the stretcher “San Marco…”. Includes magnificent gilded period frame.

PROVENANCE:
2023 ( David Smernoff, New Haven, CT & New York, NY ) ;
2023 ( [withheld] ) ;
after 2016 Private collection of [unknown] ;
2016 ( [withheld], Port St Lucie, FL ) ;
after 2010 Private collection of [unknown] ;
2010 ( [withheld], San Francisco, CA ) ;
after ca.1899-1903 Private collection of [unknown] ;
ca.1899-1903 Hendrik Heyligers [1877-1967], the artist .

EXHIBITION:
2023 [withheld] ;
2016 [withheld], Port St Lucie, FL
2010 [withheld], San Francisco, CA ;

REFERENCES:
– [withheld] ;
– [withheld] ;
– [withheld] ;

BIOGRAPHY:
Hendrik Heyligers (1877-1967) was a Dutch painter known for his genre scenes and interiors depicting peasant life. Heyligers was born in Batavia, Dutch East Indies (now Jakarta, Indonesia) in 1877 to Dutch parents. He studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in The Hague, Académie des Beaux-Arts in Paris, and in the studio of Fernand Anne-Piestre Cormon (1845-1924).

Influenced by 17th century Dutch masters, Heyligers specialized in domestic interiors and humble scenes of families in their homes. His early paintings focused on the daily routines of women and children. Heyligers lived and worked in The Hague, Munich, Paris, Elspeet, Katwijk aan Zee, Blaricum, Laren, Brussels, and Nice.

Heyligers was associated with the Laren School, a group of late 19th century Dutch artists who painted rural scenes of the people and landscapes around the village of Laren. He exhibited at the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam and other venues. His work blended Realist and Impressionist styles using a muted color palette.

In addition to interiors and genre painting, Heyligers created landscapes, seascapes, portraits, and still life paintings of flowers. He was a member of Arti et Amicitiae in Amsterdam. Hendrik Heyligers died in 1967 in Nice, France. His paintings provide a glimpse into Dutch family life and traditions in the early 20th century.