Van der Heijden was the daughter of Antonius Cornelis Josephus (Anton) van der Heijden (1893-1974), a teacher at the lekeninternaat Rolduc. During the war years, she was educated at the Stadsacademie in Maastricht, under the tutelage of Jef Scheffers. In 1945, she moved to Amsterdam, where she studied at the Rijksacademie under Heinrich Campendonk and Gé Röling. Among her fellow students in Amsterdam were Jef Diederen, Gène Eggen, Harry op de Laak, and Frans Nols, all of whom are considered part of the group known as the Amsterdam Limburgers.
Van der Heijden and Max Reneman both competed for the Prix de Rome in 1951. The jury was unable to decide which of the two should receive the gold medal. As a result, the prize was not awarded, and the accompanying travel grants were not paid by the ministry. The Italian government provided a subsidy, enabling the two to make a study trip to that country. Ultimately, Van der Heijden studied at the Accademia delle Belle Arti in Ravenna. Upon returning to the Netherlands, she, alongside Diederen and Nols, established her studio at Kasteel Erenstein near Kerkrade. She then moved to Maastricht in 1959.
Her work encompassed sgraffito, mosaic, wall paintings, and tapestries. From 1954 to 1966, she also created stained-glass windows, which were executed by the workshops of Gerard Mesterom and Hubert Felix.[3] After this, she no longer accepted commissions from churches and focused on graphic work, such as woodcuts and etchings. In the late 1980s, she started creating paper collages. After the death of her life partner, Bruno Borchert, in 1994, she produced pastel works depicting the final stages of human life.
Van der Heijden was a member of the Algemeen Katholieke Kunstenaars Verbond, the Vereniging van Beoefenaars der Monumentale Kunsten, and the Beroepsvereniging van Beeldende Kunstenaars.
The artist passed away in 1998, at the age of 75. Her possessions were placed under the care of a foundation and were donated to the Museum van Bommel van Dam
www.ftn-books.com has the publication on this donation to the museum now available.
