Jan Van Beers (1852-1927)
Sister Rigoletta n.d.
oil on wood
30.4 x 25 cm
Bequest of Howard Hinton 1948

Born 1852, Belgium. Died 1927.

Jan van Beers was a Belgian painter of various subjects including women, portraits, historical and mythological figures, dogs, miniatures and landscapes.

Van Beers trained at the Academy of Antwerp then settled in Paris in 1878 where he was recognised as a painter of genre scenes. His pictures are small and hyper-realistic in their details and finish. He was a prolific painter who enjoyed considerable commercial success.

The somewhat cheeky painting of a nun peeking through red curtains, Sister Rigoletta, is thought to have been one of Howard Hinton’s favourite paintings and was one of the eleven pictures kept in his room at the Hazelhurst boarding house in Cremorne.

The painting was gifted to the Armidale Teacher’s College as part of his bequest after Hinton died in 1948.