Die stilte na sy kuns: Michael Heyns
19-02-1946 – 17-06-2025

Michael Ferreira Heyns. Die kwas en loot lê stil. Uit sy hand sal daar nie weer ‘n koerantklad, ‘n kwashaal, ‘n keuse van Oker, Seruleumblou, Mingrooi of die vou van klei kom nie.

Dié Michael wat in die wêreld was… was alleen vir sy kuns daar. Sy ‘William Roland’ geleef met ‘Ek wil dit sê’. Hy wat blomme ander name gegee het – Windblomme. Hy wat die skoenlapper-huiwering geleef het.

Dit is nou stil.

Ons harte is stukkend, ons harte is vol, ons harte is trots. Ons het jou nog steeds by ons deur jou gevoude klei, jou keuse van kleur, jou teksture met koerant geklad, jou boek en dagboek.

Jy wat soveel gegee het van jouself deur jou kuns. Ons wat nie altyd met ons verstand jou regtig raakgesien het nie. Jy het sekerlik nie altyd die nodige erkenning gekry nie. Tog het jy dag na dag jou besig gehou met jou kuns. Ja, jou kuns!

…Stap in ‘n saal by Waterkloof. Daar is meer as 180 kunstenaars se werke te sien. Michael Heyns kan jy sien, die kunstenaar wat getrou aan sy kuns is! Net sy soort komposisie, net sy soort tekstuur, net sy soort kleurgebruik, net sy handtekening!

Wat ‘n voorreg wat ek gehad het om jou in 1981 te kon ontmoet, saam met jou te kon leef vir die laaste vier jaar, jou werk te help bemark. Die laaste weke was nie maklik vir jou nie… en as ek weer kon kies, sou ek sekerlik dit weer wou doen!

Lukas Mc Donald
18 Junie 2025

The silence after his art: Michael Heyns
19-02-1946 – 17-06-2025

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
18 June 2025

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

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

Apart from being on Art.co.za he was also a friend. We will miss him.

Johnny de Beer, Art.co.za

Michael Heyns. ‘n Wonder vir die wêreld en n vriend vir baie.

Jy het jou Hart en huis oop gemaak en ons het tuis gevoel. Jy is nie net n kunstinaar van verf en kwas maar n kunstinaar van woorde en staaltjies. Die wereld is wit en swart sonder jou. Ons gaan jou baie mis.

Riaan en Michelle

Leon se boodskap. My introduction to Michael Heyns was a divine connection facilitated by my wife, Suzette, who, at 15, was profoundly inspired by his artistic genius. Our home is blessed to showcase his breathtaking artwork, characterized by passion, love, care, and a visionary perspective. Michael, I will cherish the memories of our time together.

From Dr Leon Seymore

Ek het vir MH 26 jaar gelede ontmoet.
Dit was n twee doellige ontmoeting, eerstens sy kunswerke wat my betower het en tweedens ons gedeelde liefde vir die swane maar veral die swart swane wat vir MH ñ bekoring ingehou het. Sy besonderse band van bederf en bewondering het my altyd diep getref.

Ek het menigmale moes uithelp met die omruilings van swane om die geskiktes bymekaar te sit as daar onmin in die tuin was. Dit was altyd vir MH ñ groot emosionele wroegings besluit en ñ gebeurtenis wat hy beleef het as daar veranderings moes gedoen word.
Ekt het altyd met die grootste deernis en empatie die ekspidiesies hanteer sodat dit hom so min as moontlik ontstel het.

Dit was vir hom ñ baie treurige hartsverskeurende besluit om die pragtige koi visse en swart swane op te gee toe die galery verkoop moes word.

Ekt oor die laaste 26 jaar een v MH se grootse versamelaars geword waar ek elke keer besluit ekt nou klaar gekoop dan is daar maar altyd weer iets wat hy op sy pallet optower het wat vir my onweestaanbaar was.

MH het diep spore in my lewe getrap en ek gaan ons ontmoetings en geselsies baie mis.

Sy unike kuns gaan bly voortleef in ons huise en in ons harte. Hy was voorwaar n meester met sy kuns wat misterie en realityd in ñ meesterstuk saamgevat het soos min kunstenaars kon doen.
Rus sag en in vrede

Georg Pfeiffer

Totsiens my vriend…..ek verstaan. Jou hart was letterlik en figuurlik uitgedeel.Jou skilderye het n dimensie verloor en jou tyd staan still op aarde.
Jy het n onbewoordbare invloed op my bestaan gehad beste beskryf in die rolprent ,”As good as it gets” As ek in Jou teenwoordigheid is,ervaar ek n gevoel van Liefde en omgee in alles wat jy doen…sê… en dink, en ek hou die mense om jou dop en wonder of hulle besef hulle is in die teenwoordigheid van so n besonderse mens, en die feit dat jy vir my lief is, laat my goed voel oor myself.
Egosentries inderdaad. Hoe anders sal Jack Nicholson se karakter dit beskryf..
Jy verdien my Templeton prys…die persoon in my lewe wat die grootste bydra gelewer het met die bewusmaking van n mens se geestelikke dimensie.
Tot weersiens.Totsiens my vriend…..ek verstaan. Jou hart was letterlik en figuurlik uitgedeel.Jou skilderye het n dimensie verloor en jou tyd staan still op aarde.
Jy het n onbewoordbare invloed op my bestaan gehad beste beskryf in die rolprent ,”As good as it gets” As ek in Jou teenwoordigheid is,ervaar ek n gevoel van Liefde en omgee in alles wat jy doen…sê… en dink, en ek hou die mense om jou dop en wonder of hulle besef hulle is in die teenwoordigheid van so n besonderse mens, en die feit dat jy vir my lief is, laat my goed voel oor myself.
Egosentries inderdaad. Hoe anders sal Jack Nicholson se karakter dit beskryf..
Jy verdien my Templeton prys…die persoon in my lewe wat die grootste bydra gelewer het met die bewusmaking van n mens se geestelikke dimensie.
Tot weersiens.

Belinda Louw

The red poppy flower was the starting point. You are more than an exceptionally gifted artist to me; you are a close friend. Your presence has boosted my spirit and widened my perspective, offering a renewed way of looking at art. You understood my soul. My walls will keep on asking for more Michael Heyns paintings. You will never be forgotten.

Suzette Seymore

“Ek het Michael eers leer ken lank nadat ek al vir dekades versot was op sy kuns – wat ’n sagte gees met enorme talent. Die kunswêreld het ‘n toonaangwende kunsmeester verloor.”

Werner – Bonthuis Gallery