Hennie Agten: The Artist Mastering Van Gogh’s Style in Nuenen
- Hennie Agten, a painter from Helmond, has spent decades recreating the works of Vincent van Gogh with such precision that his canvases mirror the Dutch master's original strokes.
- Agten began reproducing Van Gogh's paintings in 1964 and has since tackled the artist's entire catalog.
- According to Agten, Van Gogh's palette holds no remaining secrets after decades of study.
Hennie Agten, a painter from Helmond, has spent decades recreating the works of Vincent van Gogh with such precision that his canvases mirror the Dutch master’s original strokes. Operating out of the Kostershuisje in Nuenen—the oldest house in the town and situated near where Van Gogh once lived and worked—Agten displayed his extensive collection of replicas on Saturday.
Inside Agten’s Van Gogh Replicas and Nuenen Exhibition
Agten began reproducing Van Gogh’s paintings in 1964 and has since tackled the artist’s entire catalog. Among his frequent subjects is The Potato Eaters, a piece he has recreated six times. “The Potato Eaters is for me a piece of cake,” Agten said. “I have made it six times already. I know it by heart. There are mistakes in it. I take them out.” The artist bypasses strict preliminary sketching by using a marker to start new works. “But I never stick to the lines,” he noted. “I always go over them.” During his exhibition at the Kostershuisje, Agten worked on a new autumn painting combining the Collse Watermolen with four other elements. While a simpler painting takes him roughly fifteen hours, exact copies require varying levels of concentration depending on the piece. He pointed to the lighting in The Potato Eaters as a primary challenge, specifically the lamp glow hitting the subjects’ faces. He singled out Gordina de Groot, for whom Van Gogh paid a guilder a day to model, as his favorite subject.
Techniques, Palette Choices, and Low-Cost Materials
According to Agten, Van Gogh’s palette holds no remaining secrets after decades of study. The painter asserted that Van Gogh never used black, opting instead for Prussian blue. Agten also creates preparatory sketches, often producing three consecutive drawings of rugged subjects like knobby hands holding spoons. He advises aspiring artists to avoid expensive equipment. “People buy the most expensive things to draw and paint,” Agten said. “Not necessary at all. Two pencils of 95 cents, that is what I work with when I sketch. It is not in the pencil. It is in your head. I have had that since I was seven.” His dedication to the style has earned him local recognition in Nuenen, alongside a reported fan club in Belgium numbering 180 members. Agten expressed satisfaction with exhibiting in the Kostershuisje, noting that the building shares the same ceiling design featured in The Potato Eaters.
