Hendricus Cornelis Balink (1882-1963)

Henry C. (Hendricus Cornelis) Balink, as a young man, was so determined to become an artist that he defied his father, who refused to let him study art, and ran away from home at the age of 16 to pursue his dreams. He was born in Amsterdam and from 1909-1914 studied at the Royal Academy of Art in Amsterdam. He earned and saved the needed tuition fees by participating in bike racing and skating competitions in the Netherlands and by working as a stuntman for an American film company.

Following marriage, he and his wife moved to New York, then on to Chicago, and finally settled in Taos, NM in 1917. In 1923, the Balinks settled in Santa Fe permanently where he became a painter of landscapes and Native Americans in bold colors and strong composition. Balink painted in Arizona and Montana as well as in New Mexico.

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