Henk Schiffmacher (Harderwijk, 1952) comes from a Catholic butcher family in Harderwijk. From an early age he had a love of drawing and collecting. He had little interest in school. He wanted to become a painter. His first sketches and drawings found their way into the homes and bedrooms of uncles and aunts, and Schiffmacher won annual drawing competitions. His artistic ambition led to a brief stint at the REX Advertising School on Frederiksplein in Amsterdam in the early 1970s.
