Anton Heyboer

Anton Heyboer was born on February 9, 1924, on the Indonesian island of Java. Throughout his life, Heyboer was literally declared insane, living as a recluse without contact with the world around him. He existed in his own cosmos, equipped with little more than the basic necessities for himself and his family. He mocked the elite art circuit but was highly regarded by leading museums worldwide. In 1943, Heyboer was arrested by the German occupiers and was forced to work in the Prenz Lauerber camp. He once wrote about this experience, "The concentration camp was no worse than my parental home, and society is no worse than either; too uncreative." From a young age, Heyboer felt a strong urge to live non-conformistically. After the war, he settled in Borger, where he began drawing in a traditional style. In 1948, he met the painter Jan Kagie, with whom he wandered through France for several months, sketching and painting. In 1951, Heyboer voluntarily spent some time in the Provincial Hospital in Santpoort to find protection from the normal society that did not allow him to undergo the process of self-realization. In the years following his stay, Anton Heyboer developed his "system." This system was his answer to living on his own terms, maintaining his social existence, and gaining recognition as an artist. It allowed him to undo his position as an outcast, which had led to his isolation. The system became his artwork, his signature. It served as the foundation for all his works under the motto: "creation is the only living thing that is eternal." It represented resurrection and was the system that led him to his brides. "Let’s build our own playground where no one else will come, where we no longer have to see people." On his farm, accompanied by his four brides, Heyboer constantly sought challenges in his work. His creations were dominated by images of voluptuous women with exaggerated curves, his boat (the YM 348), where he lived for a time in 1951, his life on the farm, and figures from the Bible mixed with imagery reminiscent of prehistoric cave paintings. In creating his artworks, Heyboer employed various disciplines. He is famous for his etchings, but also for his chalk drawings and works made with charcoal, oil pastels, paint, clay, iron ore, and tar, as well as paint on paper and canvas—beloved pieces included in many collections. "I have sought a form in which life becomes art, where it is full of tension and becomes difficult; where there are no solutions and therefore always a precarious balance. In works of art, there is also not a direct static balance; that is not beauty. This way, you also get a precarious balance with a man and four women, in which the same beauty prevails as in a work of art." Heyboer's perspective has made him an internationally recognized artist, with his works displayed in museums around the world. Queen Beatrix, who once curated an exhibition featuring Heyboer’s works, awarded him a knighthood in 2002. In solitary confinement, cut off from the outside world, he has reached people with his work and way of life.