Hendrikus Matheus Horrix (The Hague 1845-1923) came from a well-known family of furniture makers from The Hague. Mathieu also made various designs for furniture and interiors. However, he mainly made a name for himself as a painter and trained at the Hague Academy and took lessons from Philip Sadée. He also studied in Leuven and stayed in Paris from 1866 to 1870, together with his brother Frans.

Like his teacher Sadee, he painted genre paintings, with a preference for the world of entertainment and entertainment such as a visit to the Hague zoo in strikingly bright colors. He also painted landscapes, beach views and specialized in painting Zeeland folk life.

In 2010, the Municipal Archives of The Hague organized an exhibition about the history of the Hague Zoo following the purchase of a brush drawing of children taking a ride on the zoo's elephant.