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.

After the recent World Cup, revisiting Henri's post of 2012: Lionel Messi - a wizard, poet and humble genius on the grass pitch

Written in 2012, artist Henri van Bentum (1929-2022) was an early admirer of Lionel Messi, who caught his eye several years before. (In his youth in the Netherlands, Henri played with the Ajax youth academy.)

With all the world’s negative news nowadays, here now is something different and uplifting.  Being a life-long aficionado of the beautiful game of Associated Football (in North America named “soccer”), this game has provided me with some memorable recalls of plays, moments and players.   

There are always those who stand out, the crème that rises to the top in any sport.
However, I have to dig deep into the chambers of my little grey cells to find a display of sheer magic like the performance of wizard Lionel Messi, the 24 year old Argentine superstar who plays for FC Barcelona. It makes you wonder if we’ll ever see another one like him this century.
Messi mesmerizes, baffles, bewitches and bewilders anyone who challenges him for the ball, and bothers goalies who shiver and pray when suddenly Messi comes face to face with them.  Such as in yesterday’s match against Bayer Leverkusen from Germany in a Champions League match. Twice Messi came face to face with goalie Leno and on both occasions Messi - in what seemed nonchalantly – gave a brilliant example of the superb technique he possesses -  lifted the ball over the keeper into the empty net. One goal with his left foot, and one with his right foot.
Messi can dribble not 1 but 4 or 5 opponents into a state of frenzy with his dazzling, unpredictable moves, scoring in any position or from any angle -  from free kicks (now called set pieces), not to speak of his superb dead-on passes -  to passes that sometimes even leave his teammates scratching their heads or apologizing when they do not ‘get it’.  Yesterday’s end result:  Barcelona 7 – Leverkusen 1.  Oh, and this wunderkind scored a mere five goals.  A record in the Champions League history.  Already this Messi/ah has won the coveted Golden Ball for the world’s best player of the year, three times.  It is not my nature to elaborate in my blog posts on the game, but watching Messi is so uplifting an experience I like to share his extraordinary handling of the ball, his humility, instinct and enthusiasm for the game. 
Rare enough in these days of prima donnas and mega-salaried participants in the game.
Watching this “kid”, no matter how dark and cloudy it is, always brings blue skies and sunshine into your life. 
We hope to see this display of awe and wonder presented and created by Lionel Messi the Magician for more years to come. 

"What The Critics Say" -- about the work of the late Henri van Bentum, Artist

 

Henri van Bentum at work on a "Spatial Rhythm" watercolour, Arizona, 2015

“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." Whyte Museum of the Canadian Rockies, 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