Hetty van Kooten (1908-1958) was a Dutch-born primitive painter, who moved to France in 1924. Van Kooten spent her working life in France and as a young woman she assisted in documenting the prehistoric paintings at the Pech Merle cave. While working underground she experienced a creative epiphany, claiming to channel the same energies that had possessed the ancient shamans who had preceded her. She was briefly a protegée of Jean Dubuffet but her work has been neglected since her mysterious death.