Helen Verhoeven (born 1974 in

Leiden Leiden (; in English and archaic Dutch also Leyden) is a city and municipality in the province of South Holland, Netherlands. The municipality of Leiden has a population of 119,713, but the city forms one densely connected agglomeration wit ...

) is a painter and sculptor based in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

. Verhoeven was born in the Netherlands and moved to the U.S. in 1986. She attended the

San Francisco Art Institute San Francisco Art Institute (SFAI) was a private college of contemporary art in San Francisco, California. Founded in 1871, SFAI was one of the oldest art schools in the United States and the oldest west of the Mississippi River. Approximately ...

New York Academy of Art The New York Academy of Art is a private art school in Tribeca, New York City. The academy offers a Master of Fine Arts degree with a focus on technical training and critical discourse as well as a Post-baccalaureate Certificate of Fine Art. The ...

, and the

Rijksakademie van Beeldende Kunsten The Rijksakademie van beeldende kunsten (State Academy of Fine Arts) was founded in 1870 in Amsterdam. It is a classical academy, a place where philosophers, academics and artists meet to test and exchange ideas and knowledge. The school supports ...

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...

. In 2008 she won the Dutch Royal Award for Modern Painting, in 2010 the Wolvecamp Painting Award, and in 2019 she was the recipient of the ABN-AMRO Art Prize. She was commissioned to make a painting for the new courthouse of Dutch Supreme Court in The Hague that opened in 2015. Since 2023 she works as professor in painting for

Dresden Academy of Fine Arts The Dresden Academy of Fine Arts (German ''Hochschule für Bildende Künste Dresden''), often abbreviated HfBK Dresden or simply HfBK, is a vocational university of visual arts located in Dresden, Germany. The present institution is the product o ...

. Verhoeven's works seem to explore the theme of ceremonial gatherings. She makes monumental-sized paintings that are populated with contorted figures in various states of rapture, despair, lust and estrangement. She is the daughter film director

Paul Verhoeven Paul Verhoeven (; born 18 July 1938) is a Dutch director, producer and screenwriter, active in the Netherlands, France and the United States. His blending of graphic violence and sexual content with social satire is a trademark of both his dram ...

References

External sources

*Rosenberg, Karen. (October 31, 2008). Art in Review. ''New York Times'' *Hamilton, Adrian. (November 25, 2013). A Mixed Body of Work. ''The Independent (London)'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Verhoeven, Helen 1974 births Living people Dutch painters Artists from Leiden 20th-century Dutch women artists 21st-century Dutch women artists