Jan Katers was a great admirer of Hendrik Broer.

                                                      

I have had enormous admiration for Broer's work. In 1940-1944 I had already seen some of his work and had asked him several times: "Say Broer, can I take a lesson from you?"

Then Brother said: "Oh boy, no, I can't teach you to paint; you have to learn that yourself. And if I may give you some good advice: you shouldn't really start painting until you've made a living! Then you can paint however you want, and if you have to make a living from it, you have to paint the way people want you to, otherwise they won't buy from you! And that's not how it should be..."

So I visited him regularly and never dared to ask again: can't I get lessons from you?

Up until 1953: I would visit once with my wife and she would always be sitting talking to his wife, and I would go with Brother to his little room (studio) and we would look at some paintings, and later we would come back into the house for a cup of tea and my wife would say to him:

Brother, my husband always says he can't take lessons from you; you don't want that; but what if he just came to work next to you in your studio sometime and painted beside you....

Brother: Oh boy, would you really want to do that?

To which I say: nothing would make me happier! And so for 10 years I was lucky enough to be able to sit in Brother's sanctuary, and that was sooo beautiful (emotional..)

The beautiful thing was; that man had a calmness about him that cannot be put into words. When it got dark, you couldn't get much work done anymore, but then came the "golden" time.

He set a painting aside; I don't know if you are familiar with Broer's work; but most of the paintings were "veiled," and when the evening light fell upon them, the paintings became more and more beautiful... and then sometimes you didn't have to say anything for fifteen minutes. That wasn't an awkward silence... It was so quiet that you could hear the little lizards scurrying on the tiled floor...

Yes, that will stay with me my whole life; those moments!

Question: Have you also learned a lot during this time?

Katers: a resounding YES, the stillness in the work, the way Broer did it... I'm still a little boy compared to that, but it has certainly enriched my life.

Below you will find an overview of his work and media appearances.