Hans Heysen's home in the Adelaide Hills
Hans Heysen is one of Australia's best known landscape painters, he was a prolific and a very successful artist. In 1912 he was able to purchase the property called The Cedars outside the town of Hahndorf, thanks to success of an exhibition he held in Melbourne. He lived and worked there until his death in 1968, his son then lived at the property until his death 20 years later. It was Hans Heyson's grandchildren who opened up the property to visitors.
I'd been to Hahndorf many times but this was my first time to The Cedars, the house is open for guided tours three times a day. His studio is open as well, there's no photography in the house or studio so I just took pictures of the house and gardens. The house has some of his personal artwork, including his early pictures from when he was a young student in Europe. Lots of examples of his experimenting with styles. I'm always struck how paintings in real life have such vibrant colour, reproductions in books or pictures have more subdued colouring. That was the case when seeing the paintings inside the house.
Cedar trees at the front of the house, from which the property gets its name.
The Heysens were the fourth owners of the property and they extended the original cottage. They had eight children and needed the space! The cottage had a verandah which was enclosed, extra rooms were added at the back and a second storey.
Hans' studio that he had built on the property, very European in style! From this side doesn't look like a very well lit studio, but upon entering the large picture window can be seen. It's a very personal studio with Hans' brushes, charcoals, oil crayons, letters, all in the cabinets. The concrete cylinder by the door I thought was an annoying eyesore. Up close I saw that it was a small water tank, it had been galvanised and then encased in concrete. I assume it was the source of water for the studio, less annoying than having to walk down to the house for whenever water was needed.
Hans' daughter Nora was also an artist, this was her original studio and now holds an exhibition of her early work. Hans used this building as his first studio until his new studio was built.
Hans didn't drive but he took regular painting trips to the Flinders Ranges in South Australia. He would have one or his sons or a friend drive him. I'm amazed this made the trip!
He travelled with his own sleeping trailer, an early prototype of the popup vans around today!
The Cedars is a nice addition to day trip to Hahndorf.
Hans Heysen is one of Australia's best known landscape painters, he was a prolific and a very successful artist. In 1912 he was able to purchase the property called The Cedars outside the town of Hahndorf, thanks to success of an exhibition he held in Melbourne. He lived and worked there until his death in 1968, his son then lived at the property until his death 20 years later. It was Hans Heyson's grandchildren who opened up the property to visitors.
I'd been to Hahndorf many times but this was my first time to The Cedars, the house is open for guided tours three times a day. His studio is open as well, there's no photography in the house or studio so I just took pictures of the house and gardens. The house has some of his personal artwork, including his early pictures from when he was a young student in Europe. Lots of examples of his experimenting with styles. I'm always struck how paintings in real life have such vibrant colour, reproductions in books or pictures have more subdued colouring. That was the case when seeing the paintings inside the house.
The Heysens were the fourth owners of the property and they extended the original cottage. They had eight children and needed the space! The cottage had a verandah which was enclosed, extra rooms were added at the back and a second storey.
Hans' daughter Nora was also an artist, this was her original studio and now holds an exhibition of her early work. Hans used this building as his first studio until his new studio was built.
The Cedars is a nice addition to day trip to Hahndorf.
Comments
Post a Comment