How to Navigate the Legacy Blog of Henri van Bentum, 1929 - 2022

Henri aboard 60' sloop, en route from Ibiza to Pireaus

(For the account about this fateful 1961 voyage, see the post of August 26, 2008)

Welcome to the legacy blog of artist Henri van Bentum (1929-2022).  This site contains several hundred posts covering a vast array of topics, all written by Henri, beginning in 2008 when the blog launched. For a chronological menu of older posts, please see the lower left-hand side of this page. The site is curated by Natasha van Bentum, lifelong partner of Henri for fifty-one years.

Special Announcement : historic works by the late Henri van Bentum from his Private Collection. Now available to purchase for the first time.

Before his passing on April 2nd 2022 at the age of 92, artist Henri van Bentum authorized me, Natasha van Bentum, his partner of 51 years, to make available a few of his paintings from our Private Collection. Seventy-five percent of proceeds from any sales will go towards the Henri van Bentum Legacy Project, currently in the planning stage.

Please note: several of these paintings have not come onto the market for many years, and include works from the late 1950's and early 1960's.  (See the end of this post for "What the Critics Say about the Work of Henri van Bentum.")

Henri van Bentum, "Global WarNing", 1965
Acrylic and Chinese Ink on Paper, width 30" x height 24", framed under glass

Exhibited at Roberts Gallery, 1965

Painted long before "global warming" became a common term.

Formerly in the private collection of Mr. Leslie George Dawson

$17,500

Henri van Bentum, "Veined Ripples", 1965

Acrylic on canvas, width 30" x height 24"

Exhibited in Paris, France in 1966, 

at Galerie Raymonde Cazenave, Paris, France 1966

Reproduced in TIME Magazine, May 20, 1966

Formerly in the collection of the late Mr. Leslie George Dawson.

$17,500

Henri van Bentum, "Long Before", 1967

Acrylic on canvas, width 40" x height 50", framed

Formerly in the collection of the late Mr. Leslie George Dawson

$15,000

Henri van Bentum, "Season", 1962

Oil on canvas, width 26" x height 30", framed 

Painted while living on the island of Ibiza, Spain

From the private collection of the late Mr. Leslie George Dawson
$12,000  (canvas requires re-stretching) 

Henri van Bentum, "Dancing of the Spheres", 1977

Acrylic on canvas, width 40" x height 30", framed

Painted while living in Ottawa, Ontario, 1977-78

$17,500

Henri van Bentum, "Jubilato", 1977

Acrylic on canvas, width 30" x height 36"

Painted while living in Ottawa, Ontario, 1977-78

Formerly in the collection of the late Mr. Leslie George Dawson

$21,000

Henri van Bentum, "Borealis", 1964

Acrylic on paper, width 30" x height 24", framed under glass

Exhibited at Roberts Gallery, 1965

The only remaining work available in this series

$17,500

SPATIAL RHYTHMS Series - Watercolour on handmade paper

About the Spatial Rhythms series:   While living in the Rocky Mountains (in Banff, Alberta), van Bentum began a bold, Zen-like series of watercolours that he named "Spatial Rhythms". Henri continued working on this "Spatial Rhythms" series after moving to Vancouver in 1985.

"Spatial Rhythms" are a controlled, simple interpretation of inner feeling and symbolism. The work contains elements of music -- such as volume, mood and rhythm, which are translated into tonality, colour and composition."

Example of Henri van Bentum's Spatial Rhythms series, 1983

Watercolour on handmade paper, width 20", height 30"

Vertical series, created while living in Banff, Alberta 1980-85.

$12,500

Example of Henri van Bentum's Spatial Rhythms, 1983

Watercolour on handmade paper, width 20", height 30"

Horizontal series, created while living in Banff, Alberta 1980-85.

$12,500

What the Critics Say about the Work

of Artist Henri van Bentum

 “His microscopic attention to detail comes out most strongly in evocations of coral seen through the luminous waters of tropical seas, and in the textures of rock and ice caught in the suffused light of underground caverns.”   TIME Magazine

 “The best one-man show of abstract art I have seen in a long time is that of watercolours by Henri van Bentum. While too many artists seem to torture watercolour for expression, van Bentum exploits the natural delight of the medium so that it serves his most exacting thought.”  Globe & Mail

 “Henri van Bentum’s series of work, “Spatial Rhythms”, reflects his development into a controlled, simple interpretation of inner feelings; this series of paintings interprets the elements of music such as volume, mood and rhythm and are translated into tonality, colour and composition.   Peter Whyte Museum, Banff, Alberta

 When he marshals his colour into circles, then places them like water drops on the white canvas, van Bentum gets a rich intricacy of light and depth. Some have jewel facets, while others contain the subtleties of earth, leaves and bark.  Globe & Mail

 “Viewing a painting by Henri van Bentum is a stimulus to the imagination. Perhaps his background as a diamond-faceter’s son is responsible for the almost crystalline aspect of his work. The single most extraordinary quality in all his paintings is an incredible luminosity, a radiance that emanates from within.

 Completely introspective in his work, van Bentum is probably a born abstract painter.  J.W.G. ("Jock") Macdonald, with whom he studied, was one of the first to encourage van Bentum to develop his individuality, and it is certainly under Macdonald’s influence that he achieved his present independence.

van Bentum uses blank space as a positive.  The missing element is essential to the whole.  While none of his current work depicts any recognizable object, it immediately conjures up a mental word picture of a time, space, melody or situation”.   Canadian Interiors

Contact: Natasha van Bentum

vanbentum "at" gmail.com

June, 2024