First of all a personal note on Gerard Verdijk. I have known Gerard and met him on several occasions because he frequently visited the Haags Gemeentemuseum and its museum shop. One day after one of his visits , in which i expressed my interest in his works, he invited me to come over at his house and look at several ones he had for sale at that moment. Problem was…. i did not have the money to buy a work, but what remained after that visit was the appreciation for his works in which he explored contrasts in shape and color. Many, many years later all fell in place with the acquisition of a very large work by Verdijk, which was part of the Stuyvesant collection and sold at AAG auction. The work titled ….Horizontaal/Verticaal was from 1992 and exhibited at the Stedelijk Museum in the Verdijk exhibition so this together with the Stuyvesant collection it had an excellent provenance and had all the elements in it for which i admired Gerard’s his works. The contrast between the left and right side, the use of color. It looked so simple and yet its complexity is enormous.
That for a personal note. Now it is time Gerard Verdijk is remembered as one of the greatest painters from last century and the Dordrechts Museum recognized that and will open a retrospective on Verdijk on Saturday next, the 30th of July. A well deserved retrospective in which the different periods of his works will clearly show the evolution of Verdijk into the abstract painter he eventually became.
Because i have this personal interest in Verdijk, it is no wonder that the selection of books on Verdijk is quit large. Interested in Verdijk too? look at www-ftn-books.com or mail me for information on the little drawing i have for sale.
