Rien Beringer, Dutch artist, 1927-2005

Beringers: Arrival in Australia | Rien Beringer, Artist |

1. Life and Work

Catharina "Rien" Hendrika Johanna Beringer was born in The Hague, Holland, on 19 June 1927, the daughter of upholsterer Cornelius Beringer and his wife Catharina Johanna Tegelaar. After high school she studied at the Amsterdam Conservatory. It was, however, not to music but painting that Rien would dedicate her life, and it was whilst working at the Haagsche Courant newspaper that she met her husband, the late publisher of the Newspaper of the North, Ruurt Hazewinkel. They eventually married.

In 1953 Rien moved with Ruurt to Groningen, where she got in touch with the artist Jan van der Zee, a member of the 1918 Ploeg and Groningen Artists' Squad, who taught her from 1955 - when the rest of her family migrated to Australia - through to 1962. From 1964 to 1968 she studied at the Academie Minerva. In the 1970s Beringer settled with her husband in the Drenthe Paterswolde where they had set up a farm and shop. In the 1980s she joined a team of artists and regularly exhibited her work as a painter and drafts-person.

Rien and Ruurt in the artist's studio.

During 1999 Rien, along with her husband, set up the Beringer Hazewinkel Foundation. The foundation funded numerous artistic expressions in the provinces of Groningen and Drenthe. On an annual basis the Groningen Museum and the Drents Museum received contributions from this foundation. Within the Groningen Museum, the Ploeg Pavilion was developed with seven rooms, through support from the Beringer Hazewinkel Foundation. The photography festival Noorderlicht was in turn funded by them, as well as several contemporary performing arts events. 

Rien Beringer died in January 2005 while staying in Curacao, where she also had a workshop. She was 77 years old and was buried in her hometown Paterswolde. 

Obituary notice for Rien Beringer

After her death, a retrospective exhibition of Rien Beringer's work was held during 2008/2009 in the Museum De Buitenplaats in Eelde, entitled "Life in color".

Rien Beringer: Life in Color 1927-2005, North Book, Groningen, 2005.

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2. Artworks by Rien Beringer (http://www.ongering.nl/)

The following are a few artworks by Rien Beringer. The final three are taken from an Art4Food auction from 2017. Beringer produced a wide variety of artworks during her lifetime, ranging from abstracts in mixed media through to sculpture. The catalogue Rien Beringer: Life in Color 1927-2005 was published by North Book, Groningen, in 2008 as a companion to an exhibition held in the Museum de Buitenplaats. It included reproductions of 80 of her artworks.

#1 Lithograph on paper, #104 of 450, 50 x 65cm, 2004.

#2 Lithograph on paper, #96 of 450, 50 x 65 cm, 2004.

#3 - Model Study 1, 48 x 67 cm, mixed media on paper.

#4 - Model Study II, 48 x 67 cm, mixed media on paper. 

#5 - Model Study III, 66 x 81 cm, mixed media on paper. 

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3. Ruurt Hazewinkel

Ruurt Hazewinkel was born on 30 March 1929 in Groningen, Holland. He was the son of Jan Abraham Hazewinkel, the publisher of the Newspaper of the North, and his wife Johanna Hendrika Scholten. Ruurt was named after his grandfather, Reurt (Ruurt) Hazewinkel, founder of the Newspaper of the North. Hazewinkel joined in the footsteps of his father and grandfather, choosing a career as a publisher. He was educated at the School of Graphic Arts in Amsterdam and was subsequently a trainee journalist at the Algemeen Handelsblad, the Algemeen Dagblad and Haagsche Courant. He also studied at the Groningen Academy Minerva. 

Ruurt at some point joined the artist collective De Ploeg, of which his future wife Rien Beringer was also a member. Together with his cousin French, he became head of the Hazewinkel Press, whose publishing included the North Nieuwsblad. During 1988 the Press celebrated 100 years of publishing and both directors decided to leave office. After retiring Hazewinkel acquired a name as a patron. With his brother he founded the Hazewinkel Fund, which provided financial assistance to those in need in the provinces of Groningen and Drenthe (the workplace of his publisher). Together with his wife he founded the Beringer-Hazewinkel Foundation that provided support to cultural issues, such as publications and the Ploeg Pavilion of the Groninger Museum and the Drents Museum. He also financed the lifeboat Captain Hazewinkel for the Dutch Rescue Organization. Ruurt Hazenwinkel died on 22 March 2012 in his hometown Paterswolde, almost 83 years old.

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4. References

Art4Food, Uit Het Legaat van Rien Beringer-Hazewinkel, Art4Food Kunstveiling in en Voor Voedselbank [From the Bequest of Rien Beringer-Hazelwinkel, Art 4 Food - Art Auction in and for the Food Bank], 2015.

Beringer-Hazenwinkel Foundation [website], accessed 12 April 2026. 

Bos, Elco, Rien Beringer: Life in Color 1927-2005, Museum de Buitenplaats,  North Book, Groningen, 2008.

Brusse, Peter, The patron subdued, Free Netherlands, 21 April 2012. 

Wikipedia, Rien Beringer, Wikipedia, accessed 1 July 2018. Dutch.

-----, Ruurt Hazenwinkel, Wikipedia, accessed 1 July 2018. Dutch. 

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Beringers: Arrival in Australia | Rien Beringer, Artist |

Last updated: 11 April 2026

Michael Organ, Australia