ftnbooks

Posted on 22 January 201712 February 2018 by ftnbooks — Leave a comment

Mudas…Museum of Contemporary Art on Madeira

Last week , me and my wife had a short holiday on the island of MADEIRA ( Portugal). We stayed there among the 350.000 inhabitants, numerous hotels, scenery which is beyond imagination and ….one museum of Modern Art. . The museum is build from top to bottom, instead of erected from the ground up into the sky. Nearby a cliff and with views on the Atlantic Ocean. What struck me most was the architecture in combination with the constructivist art which was on show. The Museum consists of 4 floors which are connected to each other with small staircases, but when entered they have an air of roominess and because of the light within the rooms they are perfect for exhibitions. The entrance fee is only 4 euro, but this museum is well worth a visit. Do not expect the most famous names in modern art, but these Portugese Artists on show are well worth visiting in this MUDAS museum.

Rua Simão Gonçalves da Câmara nº 37, 9370-139 Estreito da Calheta, Portugal

Posted on 22 January 201722 December 2016 by ftnbooks — Leave a comment

Piet Dirkx daily ..144

dirkx 0144.jpg

Piet Dirkx cigarbox 0144

Posted on 21 January 201712 February 2018 by ftnbooks — Leave a comment

ZERO….the second exhibition

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA — NUL zero Stedelijk Museum

Mid sixties ZERO became an important part within the exhibition and collection program of the Stedelijk Museum. a.0. Jan Schoonhoven being one of the artists being presented. Zero had become “main stream” and accepted and therefore it was time for a large overview of what was and had become ZERO/ NUL. Wim Crouwel was asked for the design of the 2 catalogues. One with text and one with images. Both are exceptional designs executed in a glossy silver , perfect measurements and simple but beautiful typography.

( set is available at www.ftn-books.com)

Crouwel set

ZERO Stedelijk Museum

Posted on 21 January 201722 December 2016 by ftnbooks — Leave a comment

Piet Dirkx daily ..143

dirkx 0143.jpg

Piet Dirkx cigarbox 0143

Posted on 20 January 201712 February 2018 by ftnbooks — Leave a comment

Alberto Giacometti (1901-1966)

Two occasions spring to mind. Both occasions i was highly impressed. First there was the special Alberto Giacometti exhibition at the Haags Gemeentemuseum in 1986. /Curated by Mariette Josephus Jitta.

A large and important exhibition which showed many of the iconic sculptures by Giacometti…including a walking man and walking stray dog.

The second occasion was decades later when we visited the Beyeler Museum for the very first time. In the room with views into the garden the WALKING MAN was combined with one of the very large Monet paintings he painted in his studio at Giverny. It was so impressive that i will never forget this stunning combination. An outstanding display of classic “modern” art. Since , i have seen many more statues by Giacometti, but never again the combination was so beautiful as within the presentation at the Beyeler museum.

schermafbeelding-2017-01-11-om-14-47-50 — Giacometti and Monet

Of course the Giacometti catalogue of the 1986 Gemeentemuseum exhibition is available at www.ftn-books.com

Giacometti

Posted on 20 January 201722 December 2016 by ftnbooks — Leave a comment

Piet Dirkx daily ..142

dirkx 0142.jpg

Piet Dirkx cigarbox 0142

Posted on 19 January 201712 February 2018 by ftnbooks — Leave a comment

Informele Kunst exhibition / 1983

Yes ….34 years ago i was a rookie and just had walked into the museum world and there there was this exhibition which i could not understand. An exhibition on INFORMELE KUNST in Nederland en Belgie ( dutch language) in the Schamhart wing with at the entrance an extremely large painting by Jan Cremer. At the time it was painted he asked a price for it of 1 million guilders.

schermafbeelding-2017-01-11-om-14-39-04

At that time a ridiculous amount of money for a work of art, but time passes and if i had known what i know on art now i would have started collecting these works which were within the exhibition. names? Schoonhoven, Leblanc, Cremer, Peeters, Armando, Verheyen, Gentils, Mortier. If only……….

A pity I did not start collecting these artists, because then the time was perfect to buy at reasonable prices. Prices started to rise from that year on and the end is not in sight. What remains is the excellent catalogue which is still available at www.ftn-books.com

Informele Kunst

Posted on 19 January 201722 December 2016 by ftnbooks — Leave a comment

Piet Dirkx daily ..141

dirkx 0141.jpg

Piet Dirkx cigarbox 0141

Posted on 18 January 201712 February 2018 by ftnbooks — Leave a comment

Matisse…..La Dance (1933)

On the location of the Museum of Modern Art in Paris, there is a basement and within that basement is one of the best kept art secrets of Paris. Open for the public, no ticket needed,……just walk down the stairs and see one of most breath taking paintings by Matisse ever.

schermafbeelding-2017-01-11-om-14-08-01 — Matisse La Dance

The 3 works form together one large mural/painting in which elements of the Dance are depicted. Size approx. 25 x 5 meters.

No crowds, because people forget to visit this space with the Palais de Chaillot, but it is very well worth visiting and i can predict you will be in the neighbourhood, because when you visit Paris and want to have the best view on the Eiffel tower, you will stand opposite it at the Palais de Chaillot, walk another 200 meters to the left and you are standing before the LA DANCE, at least as impressive as the Eiffel tower you came for.

title: La danse

year : 1933

adresse: Palais de Chaillot, 1 Place du Trocadéro et du 11 Novembre, Paris

+: Installé dans le Palais de Chaillot en 1977