Maurice Heerdink
Maurice Heerdink (12 August 1955, The Hague) is a Dutch painter known mostly for his subtle painted photo-realistic male nude art. In 1981 Heerdink graduated from the Royal Art Academy in The Hague in the Netherlands. After extensive travels through North- and Middle America he drew a series about the iconography of the Maya culture. Between 1976 and 1997 he painted several works of Mathilde Willink, the ex-wife of Carel Willink that were shown in The Uur van de Wolf and in the documentary "Mathilde Willink Superpoes", 2005. From 1989 through 2000 he illustrated over 100  books and magazines and had 11 short stories published. During the 1990s, Heerdink developed into a modern Caravaggist, and drama and lightning became elementary in his paintings. Heerdink focused on the mythology from Greece and the bible. He created a series about Saint Sebastian, Acteon, Sisyphus, Prometheus and the flagellation of Christ. In 1999 he received the public award first prize for his painting The Return Of The New Messiah during the exhibition The Jesus Mystery. The documentary "The Playful Eroticism of Maurice Heerdink" was shown on MVS Gay TV Amsterdam in 1998. Between 2004 and 2005 he portrayed theatre  legends like Ellen Vogel, Jenny Arean, Willem Nijholt, Johnny Kraaijkamp jr. and Aus Greidanus jr. These works were a part of his 2005 exhibition in the Westfries Museum, that was opened by actress Sacha Bulthuis. In 2011 he portrayed several dancers. In November 2014 the book "The Art Of Maurice Heerdink" was published. In 2018, he started a collaboration with German musician and filmmaker Ronny Strehmann for the Strehmann Music Project which resulted in paintings and music videos. Heerdink's works can be found in private art collections in Europe and the United States, as well as museums. Maurice Heerdink