 Michael Heyns
|
Memorial Messages
The silence after his art: Michael Heyns
Michael Ferreira Heyns. The brush and lead lie still. From his hand will no longer come a newspaper smudge, a brushstroke, a choice of Ochre, Cerulean Blue, Ming Red, or the folding of clay. This Michael who was in the world... was there only for his art. He lived his ‘William Roland’ with ‘Ek wil dit sê’. He who gave flowers other names – Agapanthus are Wind Flowers. He who lived the butterfly-hesitation. It is now quiet. Our hearts are broken, our hearts are full, our hearts are proud. We still have you with us through your folded clay, your choice of color, your textures smudged with newspaper, your book and diary. You who gave so much of yourself through your art. We who did not always truly see you with our minds. You surely did not always receive the necessary recognition. Yet, day after day you occupied yourself with your art. Yes, your art! ...Walk into a hall at Waterkloof. There are more than 180 artists’ works to see. You can see Michael Heyns, the artist who is true to his art! Only his kind of composition, only his kind of texture, only his kind of use of color, only his signature! What a privilege I had to meet you in 1981, to live with you for the last four years, to help market your work. The last weeks were not easy for you... And if I could choose again, I would surely want to do it again!
Lukas Mc Donald
Sunday, June 22, we say goodbye to Michael Heyns here at his gallery in Pretoria. The gallery is open from 10:00 to 16:00. At 14:00, Ds. Leon Geel will handle the Christian customs at this event for about 10 to 15 minutes. Come say goodbye in your own way! Let us remember the life of Michael Heyns—a man whose creative spirit knew no bounds. While he was most widely celebrated for his paintings, those who knew Michael understood that his artistry extended far beyond the canvas. He was a sculptor, a potter, a designer of beautiful spaces—and above all, a tireless creator with an inexhaustible urge to shape the world through his imagination. Michael lived art in its truest sense. Inspired by Tolstoy’s view that “art is a human activity… by which one man hands on to others feelings he has lived through,” Michael made it his life’s work to pass on what moved him most deeply. And indeed, his work has stirred and “infected” many with its emotional honesty, beauty, and quiet depth. Among his many expressions of creativity, his flower paintings remain the most beloved. Far more than decorative motifs, Michael’s flowers were meditations on the cycle of life and death. In their delicate and luminous presence, he found a kind of salvation—a way to transcend personal moments of darkness and destruction. For us, these works stand as enduring emblems of grace, renewal, and fragile hope. He was a technical master—disciplined, meticulous, and endlessly devoted to his craft. Yet despite this perfectionism, his work was never cold. It was alive, intimate, and filled with conversation—between artist and medium, between artist and viewer. Perhaps Michael’s greatest legacy is not only the beauty he left behind, but the life he chose to lead: one marked by authenticity, reflection, and the pursuit of meaning through art. He designed not only his paintings but his entire environment with intention and imagination. In doing so, he reminded us all that a life well-lived is itself a work of art. We say goodbye to Michael Heyns with deep sorrow, but also with deep gratitude. His creations will live on—as will the feelings he so generously shared through them. Alice Art Thank you, Lukas, for letting me know. Strangely, after living with Michael's work for so many years, yesterday I was wrapping them for our final move together to a Cape Town retirement home. They have moved with me over these 50 years from Pretoria to Gaborone, then Knysna, Langebaan and now to Cape Town. A well loved part of my life! My son's godmother visited Michael's studio with me, bought one of his works, and took it home to Germany. It lived with her in Hong Kong, Singapore, and back to Germany. Last year, she gave it to my son (her godson) in London, so it's back in our family. Rest in peace, Michael, and thank you for the daily pleasure your work has given me. Minota van Bergen Middag Lukas, ek wil net weer eens ons innige meegevoel met die afsterwe van geliefde Michael, betuig. Wat n pragtige vaarwelboodskap aan n meer as dierbare vriend - so mooi verwoord! Dit was voorwaar n voorreg om hom van so naby te ken en al ons lekker geselsies en lekker uitstallings by jul galery. Ons dink aan jou en ander familie in hierdie tyd van weemoed en simpatie en hou jul in ons gebede. Ek wou nog he hy moes my uitstalling open - nou sal jy maar moet oorneem. Sien Sondag Seenwense Johann & Susan Opperman
|
