Hein Keverartist • painter • watercolourist • draughtsmanAmsterdam 1854-1922 Laren (N.H.)

Hein Kever is one of the most famous painters of the Laren School. He was best known for his interiors painted in loose strokes and harmonious colors with figures, flowers, farmers and children. People admired the atmosphere, the light and colors, such as bright green and warm deep red.

Kever grew up in a wealthy Amsterdam family and showed a great talent for drawing as a child. Jozef Israëls, a family friend, advised Kever to first master the lithography trade. He then learned to draw at the Academy in the Oudemanshuispoort and practiced painting still lifes at home. In 1870 Jozef Israëls introduced him to Johan Greive's studio. After his death in 1872 Kever went to Eemnes to paint landscapes, always without figures. For the latter he went to Antwerp to train in figure painting at the Academy led by Charels Verlat. From 1878 Kever lived mainly in Laren and Blaricum, while he kept a studio in Amsterdam for the winters. After his marriage in 1887, he settled permanently in Laren and became his neighbor across the street at the request of Anton Mauve.

Kever was not naturally one to seek the company of other people. Kever and his wife did have good contacts with Geo Poggenbeek and his wife. He was also on good terms with neighbors Mauve and Neuhuys, regularly receiving advice from them, which, however, had little influence on his style of painting. Kever owed his greatest success and fame to his work with Gooise farm interiors, which were very popular with the Dutch public, but were also in demand abroad, especially in the United States. Kever was a hard and conscientious worker with a large production, without compromising the quality of his paintings. In his studio with a Gooi interior, he works on his peasant scenes. Initially with a fairly tight fingerboard, which became looser over the years; and always with a harmonic incidence of light, without strong contrasts. Not only did Kever receive awards for his work in the Netherlands and abroad, he was also honored in 1901 with a solo exhibition at Pictura in Amsterdam.