Jaap Hillenius (1934-1999) style is often described as a personal variant of nineteenth-century Impressionism, with Manet and Seurat being his major influences. These techniques inspired his paintings and graphics. Initially, Hillenius drew and painted in a figurative manner and called himself a "sensitive expressionist" in his early years. His primary interest lay in human perception. In 1970, Hillenius decided to dedicate the rest of his life to developing a single painting: a sunny, summer landscape with people under a tree by the water, reminiscent of Seurat's famous work, "A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte." Hillenius embarked on a study of various aspects: color, light, rhythm, movement, and the visual elements of water, grass, and flowers. To study and depict these subjects as optimally as possible, he traveled extensively. For instance, he went to the jungles of Guatemala to study trees. Many of the artworks he created during this period can be seen as preliminary studies for that one major work.
A Lifelong Pursuit of Perception and Color
In series of works, Hillenius explored how painterly accents can guide the viewer's eye movement across the painting. He wanted looking at his artwork to be an entirely new experience. However, because the human memory links what one sees to what is already known, this happens less quickly with a figurative work, and viewing is influenced. Ultimately, he discovered that color affects how one looks at an image and that the contrast between colors determines the spatial experience. Hillenius predominantly used pointillism in bright, pure colors in his artworks. Additionally, he employed large color fields and lines. Some works are festive explosions of color, while others are more subdued.
From 1982 to 1990, Hillenius was a professor at the Rijksacademie voor Beeldende Kunsten in Amsterdam, in the drawing and painting department. Jaap was the younger brother of writer Dick Hillenius, whose book "De vreemde eilandbewoner" (1967) he illustrated. He was married to painter and photographer Mies de Roos (1934-2008). Since the 1960s, he worked in a studio in the garden of Aldo and Hannie van Eyck in Loenen aan de Vecht. Hillenius died at the age of 65 when he was hit by a delivery van while riding his bicycle.
