Josef Santen

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Josef Santen (1926–1988) was a Dutch painter born in Amsterdam and who died in Haarlem. He studied with Henri Boot and won the third prize of the Willink van Collen prize. For a short time he lived with the artist Anton Heyboer and Heyboer’s first wife Erna in Zonnesteeg, Haarlem, before he had his own workshop. He joined the artist group Kunst zij ons doel and served as its second chairman in 1971.

Santen’s name later appeared in connection with a 2016 documentary about a forgery controversy surrounding Heyboer’s work. The film suggested that some Haarlem-period Heyboer pieces bought from 2004 onward might have come from a collection associated with Santen, though the provenance was unclear and disputed. An etching shown in the film bore back signatures mentioning Santen and Frans Verpoorten and referred to Santpoort, a town linked to Heyboer’s circle; the collection’s origins remained untraced. The works were returned to the gallery owners, who still insisted they were genuine.