Henri van Bentum

Contact Natasha van Bentum: vanbentum@gmail.com
Website: vanBentum.org

 

August 13, 1929 - April 2, 2022

Start of Career

Began painting in a sanatorium in the Netherlands during long bout with tuberculosis, 1952

Media

Watercolor, acrylic, oils, Chinese ink, pastel

Solo Exhibitions

Paris, Mexico City, Toronto (5), Vancouver, Amsterdam, Banff, Alberta, Victoria, B.C.

Group Exhibitions

Montreal, Toronto, New York, Vancouver, Winnipeg, Hamilton, Amsterdam

Outreach

International Year of Astronomy 2009, “From Earth to the Universe” (FETTU), images from ORGANIVERSE (both the Original and Starry Night editions) were displayed in Victoria and other locations in Canada on digital screens as part of a public outreach exhibit of space images from around the world. Chandra X-Ray Observatory 2010, “Coloring Space”, a collaboration with images of ORGANIVERSE “Starry Night” edition juxtaposed with space images by NASA

Commission

35mm film based on "The Organiverse Portfolio", shown at film festivals in Berlin, Moscow, Tokyo, Chicago. Also shown in Friesland and at the Ontario Science Centre

Awards

Banff School of Fine Arts; OSA 94th annual exhibition, Toronto; Canada Council; Ontario Arts Council grants

Collections

Represented in many private collections and over 50 major corporate and public collections in Canada, the USA and Europe

Bibliography

TIME, Canadian Art, Canadian Interiors, Globe & Mail, Toronto Star, Arts Magazine, Holland Herald, Het Parool, ArtsWest, Art Animation Films

Artists in Schools

Pioneer in the concept of artists-visiting-schools program and art ecology Lectures Lectured extensively on color and on several aspects of art evolution

Listings

Creative Canada; Dictionary of Canadian Artists; Visual Arts Ontario Index to Artists; National Gallery of Canada; National Arts Archives, The Hague, Netherlands

Travels

Henri van Bentum travelled extensively throughout the world. He visited and lived in such places as Ibiza, the Solomon Islands, New Guinea, Indonesia, the Galapagos, Madeira, Morocco, Easter Island, Fiji and South Georgia, Antarctica.

van Bentum was a pioneer of Enrichment Programs aboard ships, and was guest artist & lecturer aboard two inaugural around the world voyages with Royal Viking Line in 1974 and 1975. In 2000, he completed a 127-day sea voyage around the world, where he was artist-in-residence and gave creative exploration classes.

Henri spoke six languages and also wrote children's stories. He was a member of the Circumnavigators Club.