Jan Heyseartist • painter • watercolourist • draughtsmanZierikzee 1882-1954 Veere

The extremely refined figures, landscapes and village views of the Zeeland artist Jan Heyse exude a pure beauty, giving them an almost mystical appearance. The artist was born in Zierikzee and went to the Rijksacademie in Amsterdam for his education. He then returned to Zeeland and lived mainly in Veere. Although his contemporaries described Heyse as a withdrawn and sensitive person, he took part from the outset in the avant-garde 'Exhibition of Paintings in Domburg'. But in the midst of the work of his experimental contemporaries, his paintings, drawings and woodcuts seem to be a quest for purity and simplicity. Especially because of the way in which Jan Heyse manages to give everyday life in Zeeland a religious content, his work seems to fit in with the Symbolism movement.