HENRI VERSTIJNEN

Henri Cornelis Gerard Marie Verstijnen (* July 9, 1882, in Sukabumi, Java; † January 11, 1940, in Scheveningen) was a Dutch visual artist known for his work as a draftsman, graphic artist, illustrator, painter, and sculptor. His art often revolved around themes of nature and animals, with a particular focus on birds and fish.

Verstijnen spent the first ten years of his life in Java, and tropical influences from this period are reflected in some of his works. He studied from 1898 to 1900 at the Kunstoefening Academy in Arnhem. In 1900, he began working as a plate decorator at the Zuid-Holland ceramics factory in Gouda. From 1904 to 1906, he worked as a designer in the ceramics and metal industries in Bohemia before returning to the Netherlands to work with Société Céramique in Maastricht.

From 1918 until his death in 1940, Verstijnen lived and worked in The Hague, where he was an active member of the Haagse Kunstkring and the Pulchri Studio painters’ society, regularly exhibiting his paintings and watercolors. His animal caricatures gained wider recognition through publications in magazines such as De Nieuwe Amsterdammer (1910–1920) and De Groene Amsterdammer (1923–1927), the latter accompanied by humorous poems by writer Charivarius (pseudonym of G.J. Nolst Trenité).

Verstijnen also illustrated children’s and schoolbooks and worked as a graphic designer, producing cards and calendars often featuring animal scenes. He developed a unique printing technique he called Grafico, a combination of lithography and etching, though he left little documentation of its specifics.

Nature and wildlife, particularly birds and fish, were recurring themes in Verstijnen’s art. He became a member of the Theosophical Society in 1910, whose philosophies influenced his work. Stylistically, his art aligns with the Fin de Siècle and incorporates elements of Japonism, Art Nouveau, and Symbolism.

During his lifetime, Verstijnen was a popular artist, but his work faded into obscurity in the second half of the 20th century. In 2006, his life and work were revisited in a monograph by A. Wagtbert Hansen and A. Kroon. A major retrospective followed in 2007 at the Drents Museum in Assen and the Mesdag Museum in The Hague. Verstijnen’s works are part of notable collections, including that of the Rijksmuseum.