Heimans is familiar with royalty. The Australian painter's subjects have included Queen Elizabeth II, whose portrait hangs in Westminster Abbey, Charles as the Prince of Wales, Prince Philip, and King Frederik and Queen Mary of Denmark. To that list he can now add a different kind of royalty: Goodall, the celebrated anthropologist and the world's pre-eminent expert on chimpanzees, who died last year aged 91.
His oil-on-canvas portrait of Goodall was unveiled in Washington, where the Jane Goodall Institute is based, at a ceremony on Tuesday night. It was held at Ned's, a private members' club a block from the White House. His paintings of Goodall and Gremlin are on display at the venue.
The story behind the portrait dates to 2012, when Heimans attended the Commonwealth Day Observance Service at Westminster Abbey and heard Goodall deliver the keynote speech. He was there with his agent, Penny Mountbatten. As Goodall spoke, they turned to each other with the same thought: she should be next.
"I said, 'One day, you are definitely going to paint that lady'," Mountbatten says.
Heimans painted Goodall during what proved to be her final trip to Tanzania, the country where she conducted her pioneering research on chimpanzees.
"You can't get a more far cry from the palace than the forests of Tanzania," Heimans says. "It was just an extraordinary experience. I really admire her, and painting someone I admire is just a thrill for me."
The portrait was unveiled at a private reception hosted by the Jane Goodall Institute USA.