The artist Henri Bol
Henri Bol was born on January 10th 1945 in Eindhoven. He grew up in the Rustenburgstraat, situated in the borough of Tongelre, as the eldest son of artist Kees Bol and Toos van ’t Hof. As a young adult Bol studied at the Design Academy Eindhoven (1960-1964). Later he also attended the Graphic School in Venlo, Limburg.
During a visit in the late sixties to the Museum Arnhem, Henri Bol became impressed by Dutch artists Raoul Hynckes, Dick Ket, Pyke Koch and Carel Willink. It inspired him, in addition to his job as a creative therapist, to seriously focus on painting. Soon Bol was given the opportunity to exhibit his work. With fellow artists, he showed his paintings at Gemert Castle and at the Old Mill in Thorn (1971). In 1973 Bol exhibited his work at the Town Hall in Hilvarenbeek.
The fortified town of Heusden
In 1972 a house named “het Blaauw Laaken” was purchased in the fortified town of Heusden. Here he devoted himself increasingly to painting still lifes. An avid collector, he acquired antiques like furniture, tin, enamel, watches, musical instruments, glassware, china and books. Historical objects which served only one purpose, namely to act as subjects in his still lifes.
In the late 1970s Henri Bol exhibited in the Old Town Hall in Beek en Donk and at the Philips Leisure Centre in Eindhoven. Subsequently he successfully showed his work at Smelink & Stokkink Art Galleries in The Hague, Gallery Mokum in Amsterdam and Gallery Gogol in Düsseldorf, Germany. In 1986 he retired as a creative therapist and fully devoted himself to painting. In 1988 his wife Gerrie Bol-Klinkenberg launched her own Art Gallery “het Blaauw Laaken” where Bol exhibited his paintings with great success until his death in July 2000.
Appreciation
In the mid 1990s RTL Nederland aired ‘Toppers’, presented by Willibrord Frequin. Central in one episode was Mr. Frits Philips (of the technology company). Henri Bol featured in this program because he was working on a still life, commissioned in honor of the 90th birthday of the industrialist.
In 2002, on the occasion of the publication of a monograph on his work, an exhibition was organized at the Museum Kempenland in Eindhoven, titled “Sophisticated and timeless, still lifes by Henri Bol (1945-2000)”.
