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Benno Wissing (1923-2008)

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In the dutch museum and art scene there are some classical partnerships regarding the design of museumpublications. There are Willem Sandberg and Wim Crouwel who bot worked in different decades for the Stedelijk Museum. There is again Wim Crouwel and Walter Nikkels who worked for the van Abbemuseum. There are Donald Janssen and Gracia Lebbink who had their designs published by the Gemeentemuseum Den Haag and there is Benno Wissing ( one of the founders of Total Designs) who worked almost exclusively for the Boymans Van Beuningen Museum Rotterdam during 3 decades.

Bernard (Benno) Wissing was a Dutch designer, painter, graphic artist and architect. He trained as a painter at the Art Academy in Rotterdam.

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He began his career in 1949 as a designer for the Museum Boijmans in Rotterdam under VP Ebbinge Wubbe. He designed catalogs and posters and established exhibitions. He was one of the founders of Total Design which he worked from 1964 to 1972.

Benno Wissing is for me one of the greatest names in dutch design, but still stands in the shadow of Crouwel and Sandberg. Undeservedly, because his designs are true ” classics”. Just search for Wissing at www.ftn-books.com and find some excellent examples of his truly great designs.

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Gilbert & George …The Paintings, 1971

 

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If you ask me…what is the rarest of all Stedelijk Museum catalogues?…the answer probably will be the 1971 THE PAINTINGS catalogue by Gilbert & George, which is published with no. 511. It is only an 8 page catalogue, measuring 8.3 x 5.9 inches, but this one is really a rare collectable artist book. I finally found one for my inventory and it is now for sale at www.ftn-books.com

 

 

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Richard Prince protesting Trump/ New York Times

I wanted to write a blog on Richard Prince and stumbled upon an article i really want to share with you. Prince returns a payment to Ivanka Trump for a photograph she bought for her collection and with this act protested against the presidency of Donald Trump. You can read the complete article here:

Very nice to read  😉

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and for some Prince publications please visit www.ftn-books.com

 

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Henk van Bennekum (1946) and “Typologie van de reeks”

It must have been dozens of times that i passed a sculpture by Henk van Bennekum, but i only realized recently that these sculptures were by van Bennekum since i bought TYPOLOGIE VAN DE REEKS by this artist. The Ablasserdam sculpture i had noticed before when passing it by boat, but the others all were anonymous to me. but….. the cover of Typologie van de reeks struck me as a beautiful Wim Crouwel like cover and i bought the book and studied a little van Bennekum’s earlier works and i love them. They have a minimal quality about them and i would love to add a work to my collection. I will be on the look out for his work from now on and for those interested in his catalogue. It is available at www.ftn-books.com

 

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Annie Sprinkle (1954) … Classic Pornstar/Contemporary artist

 

A blog on a former pornstar… aren’t there any other subjects? Yes, there are , but since i encountered several works of art by Annie Sprinkle in which she creates art with her female forms, i was strongly reminded of Yves Klein who did this some 50 years ago. The proces is simple color your boobs with ink or paint and make an impression of them on paper. The result…i think at least it is personal and authentic.

In the Netherlands mrs. Sprinkle had a strong fan base who invited her to publish some ( now classic) books of which www.ftn-books.com holds a copy.

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Dick Elffers (1910-1990)

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Dick Elffers is one of the great dutch designers from last century. If you compare his works , they best can be compared with the designs by Willem Sandberg. Colorful designs and sometimes they look torn figures like the ones Sandberg uses. If ever there is a combination which is known outside the Netherlands it is the designs he made for the HOLLAND FESTIVAL.

These posters are highly recognizable as Elffers designs and are among the best that are published in the Netherlands in the last century. Perhaps not as well know as Sandberg and Crouwel, but certainly very important as a designer and quintessential for the ducth design mouvement that followed the 50’s from last century.

Of course www.ftn-books.com has some great Dick Elffers titles in its inventory

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Juul Kraijer ( 1970 )… depicted unease

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It was about 20 year ago i first saw work by Juul Kraijer. Kraijer was presented with a small exhibition in the Gemeentemuseum and  as soon as i saw her works i was convinced of the quality of her art. Many years later, i Think it was the UNSEEN fair 2014 i encountered her photographs and had the same feeling about them.

They created an unease within me, but at the same time they were fascinating. I discovered for this blog that Kraijer has a very loyal and active following on Pinterest, but maybe the best way to discover her works is by visiting her site http://www.juulkraijer.com on which she gives a.o. an extensive text on her Hydra series of drawings. The HYDRA book is available at www.ftn-books.com

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Paul de Kort ..continued with “Arsis”

Yesterday i announced the sale of the impressive Paul de Kort set ARSIS a series of 12 drawings/ 6 of them graphite and 6 with charcoal and pencil.

It was bought by me last week and I announced its sale for later this year, but because of a request to show more photographs of this set i decided to photograph it right away and put it up for sale at the “ftn art” pages within this blog. Here is just a teaser. For all the photographs and full description visit: https://wordpressstrato-pacfwc5kp0.live-website.com/ftn-art/

arsis x

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Paul de Kort… a dutch land art artist

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I was fortunate to acquire for FTN art an impressive box by Paul de Kort. The box contains 6 graphite ” PULSE” drawings. The counterparts being a drawn spiral in pencil and charcoal framed in lead. All 12 drawings are signed. So far the technique. What makes this box important is that the spiral shape/ maze of the drawings comes back in his projects which are executed on a much much larger scale.

One of his latest projects is the Wassende Maan project which was designed 2005 and executed in 2008. It is situated in the Northern Part of the Biesbosch  (south of Rotterdam/Dordrecht). Search on Google gives great view of the project:

https://www.google.nl/maps/place/De+Wassende+Maan/@51.7907751,4.7833401,933m/data=!3m2!1e3!4b1!4m5!3m4!1s0x47c6828a5e93de25:0xb1c0ce93edaf0b11!8m2!3d51.7907751!4d4.7855341?hl=nl

If one studies the projects Paul de Kort executed during the last 30 years as an artist you can see why i think the box I acquired is of importance. The shapes, patterns and execution is on this smaller scale a source of inspiration for his later works.. The complete set will become for sale later this year. Here is a preview of the box and 4 drawings.

arsis xx

arsis a

arsis i

 

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Toon Teeken (1944)

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I have been fascinated by the works of Toon Teeken for some decades now. I first encountered his works in the Bonnefanten Museum Maastricht in 1986 where he had an exhibition at that museum together with Fons Haagmans. I loved both, but slightly preferred the works by Teeken.

Since, i followed his exhibitions at museums and galleries. Because Teeken is represented by gallery Nouvelles Images which is quite nearby and easy for me to visit. I could follow his development as an artist. I  love his works but saw them rise in price with every new exhibition and becoming financially out of reach for me, but sometimes you are in luck…..  I found one of the most important works by Teeken coming up for sale and made a direct bid for it ….. and won.

teeken groot

I hoped to find a large wall for it at our home, but i miscalculated the space needed for such a large painting and had to store it. It is now stored for some years and it has become clear that there is no space available for it in the future and therfore it is now for sale at ftn-art at a price half of the gallery price. A bargain price for a painting which is much larger than the standard sized ones usually for sale.  But this one really needs space being 260 x 200 cm. it is an unsually large work , but when you have an office or conference offices i can highly recommend this one. Affordable and impressive and artistically an important work by a great dutch artist…Toon Teeken.

Its provenance…Artesia bank / Maastricht who had it in their entrance.

for more information see ftn-art

There are some nice Teeken publications available at www.ftn-books.com

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