Theo Goedvriend was a student at the Applied Arts School in Amsterdam and Th. van Hoytema in Hilversum. He painted cityscapes and still lifes. He was especially known for his paintings of mushrooms. Against a dark background, he used sparkling reds, yellows and greens. “They breathe the scent of ferns and oak foliage and have the mystique of colours slumbering in deep shade,” wrote one critic of his work in 1949.