JUDITH VAN HEEREN
"Rich with art historical references - from sfumato's hazy atmospherics to a subtle slippage between realism and surrealism - Van Heeren's paintings sit comfortably within contemporary practice. Both meticulous and experimental, they feel at once scientific and alchemical. While they may gesture towards ecological precarity, the works remain grounded in aesthetics rather than politics, resisting fixed meanings and inviting sustained contemplation."
Rhianna Melhem from Art Guide Australia 2026
BIOGRAPHY
Melbourne based Judith Van Heeren has a Diploma in Fine Arts (Painting), Claremont School of Arts, Perth (1981) and a Grad. Dip. in Fine Arts (Painting), Victorian College of the Arts, Melbourne (1989). She has held solo exhibitions since 1982 in Melbourne, Sydney and Perth, including ACCA @ Mirka at Tolarno Hotel (2008). Judith has been included in group exhibitions throughout Australia since 1984, at institutions including the National Gallery of Victoria, University of Western Australia, the Art Gallery of Western Australia, Linden New Art, Noosa Regional Gallery, Hazelhurst Regional Gallery, Bathurst Regional Gallery, Lismore Regional Gallery, Gippsland Art Gallery and Mornington Peninsula Regional Gallery. She has been a finalist in the Len Fox Art Prize at Castlemaine Art Gallery (2024, 2022, 2019), the Bayside Art Prize (2019), the Arthur Guy Memorial Prize at Bendigo Art Gallery (2019) and the Ravenswood Australian Women’s Art Prize (2019); and has undertaken residencies Fremantle Arts Centre (2023 and 2018) and the Cite International Des Arts, Paris (2010). Judith’s work is held in the collections of the National Gallery of Victoria, the Art Gallery of Western Australia, Artbank and significant regional, corporate and tertiary collections.
ARTIST CV
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PAST EXHIBITIONS
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JUDITH VAN HEEREN FINALIST IN 2026 MALDON LANDSCAPE PRIZE
Judith van Heeren is a finalist in the 2026 Maldon Landscape Prize with her work ‘Pink moon’. The 2026 Maldon Landscape Prize, themed “Essence of Place,” is a national art award in Australia presented by the Maldon Artist Network and Cascade Art Gallery, encouraging diverse, inventive interpretations of the landscape. The finalist exhibition runs from…
JUDITH VAN HEEREN FINALIST IN 2026 R & M MCGIVERN PRIZE
Judith van Heeren is a finalist in the 2026 R & M McGivern Prize with her painting ‘Old Moon’. The R & M McGivern Prize was established by the will of the late Muriel Evelyn McGivern, a local resident and artist of Maroondah, as a legacy of Muriel’s support of the arts in Maroondah. The…
JUDITH VAN HEEREN EXHIBITED IN ‘GROUNDSWELL’ AT CASTLEMAINE ART MUSEUM
Judith Van Heeren is exhibited in Groundswell at Castlemaine Art Museum until the 19th of July. In order to effect change, you need a groundswell, a groundswell of opinion, a surge of emotion, a desire for new thinking. This exhibition celebrates artists who want to build a groundswell for change whether that be environmental, cultural, personal or…
JUDITH VAN HEEREN FEATURED IN ART GUIDE AUSTRALIA
Although she emigrated from the Netherlands to Australia as a young child, Judith Van Heeren appears to have inherited a cultural affinity for the dark, moody still lifes of the Dutch Masters, an art historical legacy she has long admired. Borrowing from this visual language, her paintings elevate Australian flora, imbuing them with the gravitas,…