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Johan Niegeman (1902-1977)

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Most people do not know that dutch architects Mart Stam and Johan Niegeman actually taught at the Bauhaus institute. Even Piet Zwart taught at the Bauhaus, but he must be the absolute champion in the shortest of periods he taught over there….only 3 weeks.

Still Niegman taught almost 2 years at the Bauhaus and was influenced by the Bauhaus in such a way that the projects fro the rest of his career were very much influenced by the BAUHAUS principles and the projects his fellow architects realized over there. The “architectuur Museum” recognized the importance of Niegeman and published a wonderful publication on NIegeman. A true Wim Crouwel designed book which is still up to date and one of the only publications on Niegeman. Available at www.ftn-books.com

niegeman aa

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Ernest Utermark (1967)

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A blog on an artist who deserves a larger platform of admirers in the Netherlands and beyond. I have known Ernest since he first entered the Gemeentemuseum Den Haag, but to be honest i had forgotten about him since i stopped coming daily to the museum, but every time i entered the museum through the corridor i was reminded of him because of his” cut out birds” that prevented the birds flying against the glass windows.

Last december i visited Ap Gewald at the museum and i saw Ernest in the corner of my eye and we greeted each other. A few days later I started to rearrange some books and found this wonderful book by Ernest which i once bought at the museumshop. In this book you can find a “collectors alphabet” by Ernest Utermark.  I loved the book when i bought it and after nine years it is still a delight to leaf through. Is it available at www.ftn-books.com?…. i am sorry it is NOT but i can strongly recommend it and urge you to start looking for this delightful publication from 2010.

utermark a

 

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Jet Nijkamp…Verdrongen Landschap

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The reason to write this blog is the book i recently purchased by Jet Nijkamp. Filled with nature drawings of wood, trunks and landscapes and enhanced with text by Tsead Bruinja. Thsi titel “Verdrongen Landschap” was published in a small edition and is now available at www.ftn-books.com.

verdrongen landschap a

An excellent title with drawings by Nijkamp , which remind me of the early drawings by Frank van Hemert influenced by Anselm Kiefer. but……visiting her site i noticed that she had published a complete series of Donald Trump dressed in Womans Clothing. A “funny” series of pastel drawings on international newspapers. It is not funny only , but it shows some criticism towards Donald Trump and his presidency. Trump takes poses like the great states man he think he is, however…..the drawings make fun of him and puts his presidency into perspective. The best one is the Obama meeting. Obama is the statesman and Trump the one with a dress on. I can not vote for any US president , but i wish i could and i  would not have any doubt who to vote for.

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Philip Akkerman (1957)

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A daily blog on “dutch” contemporary art is not complete without a blog dedicated to Philip Akkerman. From his earliest days he started as an artist he portrayed himself and consequently only made self portraits ever after. Whether these were done in oil, drawing, gouache, watercolor or any other material. His works had only one subject… his own “face”. … Interesting is to see that a good portrait by Akkerman reflects his personality, his mood and how he grows from a young man into a middle aged and now a somewhat older men,.

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A face full of character makes these series of portraits one of the only series in modern art totally devoted to the personality of the artist who makes it.

A great series of hundreds of his self-portraits can be found over here:

https://philipakkerman.com/paintings

www.ftn-books.com has some very nice Akkerman publications available:

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Jean Messagier (1920-1999) continued

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I always have been a great admirer of the abstract art of Jean Messagier. Recently i acquired a collection of gallery catalogues of the New Yrok based Lefebnre gallery . A renowned gallery that was active from 1960 – 1986 and run by John Lefebre. In the early years he chose original lithographs as cover for his publications and one of these is the very impressive lithograph by Jean Messagier. Spread over 3 page this is probably the best i have ever seen by this artist. I am biased, since i am the fan of his abstract art, but even for a normal art lover this work must be outstanding.

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messagier 1964 b

The Lefebre catalogue is now available at www.ftn-books.nl

messagier lefebre a

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Erik Ortvad (1917-2008)

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One of the founding cities of the COBRA movement is Copenhagen and one of the true Danish COBRA members was Erik Ortvad.

Ortvad was born on the 6th of June, 1917 in Copenhagen. He was a painter and a graphic artist, who was known to be an autodidact. He has been painting since 1935 from a very young age. In this period his paintings were influenced by the surrealistic and abstract style of Ejler Bille (1910-2004), Vilhelm Bjerke Petersen (1909-1957) and the artists group called Linien (The Line) (1934-1949). During 1941 and 1942 Ortvad was, just like many other Danish artists and contemporaries, in search of more spontaneity in the course of his creative process. He began to paint with a more spontaneous-abstract style, at which he would use small brushstrokes to purvey his canvases on numerous occasions with the colours grey, pink, yellow and blue.

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Ortvad joined the Danish pre-war experimental artists association Høst (1942-1949) in 1945 as the youngest member. Through Høst he came in contact with members of CoBrA (1948-1951), an international post-war avant-garde movement that believed that art must originate from artistic freedom, fantasy and spontaneity. Ortvad’s artworks were shown in 1948 at the Van Lier gallery in Amsterdam. His artworks were also shown in 1949 and 1951 at the renowned CoBrA exhibitions in Amsterdam and Liège. Ortvad decided a year after the abolishing of CoBrA to put his paintworks aside and focus on his desire to draw cartoons. He did this under the pseudonym ‘Enrico’. After the year 1960 he directed his focus on his spontaneous painting style once again. In contrast with his earlier works, his later works are defined by a powerful characterization existing of fiercely, saturated colours, strong lines and visible brush strokes.

It took al very long time for me personally until I discovered Ortvad, but now that I have encountered his works I believe I like him better than most of his dutch fellow COBRA members. The below publication is available at www.ftn-books.com

cobra denmark

 

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Josef Albers silkscreens

A great inspiration for Sol LeWitt and considered by many as one of the greatest artists from the 20th Century. Josef Albers is the artist I am writing about this time. In an earlier blog I explained the importance for Minimal art of Josef Albers but this time the blog is devoted solely to the great original silkscreens I am exclusively offering on eBay. The series of 4 comes from a private collector and is from 1973. The silkscreens are executed on a double sheet of paper and are exquisite in the choice of colours. Albers is the true master of matching the best colours. The composition of HOMAGE TO THE SQUARE is always the same but the choice of colours and size make you look at a different work of art the moment you see it. These original silkscreens are 8.1 x 8.1 inch and now available at eBay’s  all international sites.

 

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Two “scarce” Stedelijk Museum additions

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bloc parent c

It has been a long time since i encountered the No. 183 catalogue ,published by the Stedelijk Museum in 1958. The publication is a leporello like publication which folds out and describes the contributions by three French artists. The design done by Willem Sandberg makes this one stand out and it is one of the most scarce publications by the Stedelijk Museum. The artists André Bloc, Claude Parent and Charlotte Perriand. an absolute must have for the admirers of these artists and a highly collectable item for all interested in the Stedelijk Museum publications. (now available at www.ftn-books.com)

The second one is even more scarce and it is one i never have encountered before in all these years that i sell Stedelijk Museum publications. Designed by Wim Crouwel it is only a 4 page publication. Specially made for the Werkgroep Plakat Praag / Politieke affiches uit Tsjechoslowakije ( ODPOVĒDNOST)/ 1965. This is another highly desirable item for Stedelijk Museum/Crouwel collectors.

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Jan Hendrix (1949)

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Hendrix is a well known artist outside the Netherlands but is hardly known over here. Traveling all over the world he collects images and scenes which he later translates into paintings and drawings. Such a series is “Bitacora” which was exhibited in the Netherlands too.

Jan Hendrix was born in Maasbree, the Netherlands .He was born into a farm family that opposed his artistic aspirations. At sixteen, he routinely skipped classes except for art.[2] At seventeen, he entered the Den Bosch Royal Art Academy, but was expelled for rebelliousness. In 1968, he was invited by dutch/Japanese artist Shinkichi Tajiri to enter the Ateliers ’63 School in Haarlem, which was considered the most radical school at the time. Here he received a multidisciplinary education and at the same time worked at the Smeets press in the city of Weert. From 1971 to 1975, he worked on his masters at the Jan van Eyck Academie, where a professor encouraged him to focus on the graphic arts.

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Between 1971 and 1976, he lived in France, Portugal, Norway, and Iceland, and has lived and worked in Mexico since 1978.He has visited Kenya (1990), Egypt (1991), China and Australia (1996), Turkey (1998), Ireland (1999), Spain and Yugoslavia (2001) .

Since 1978, he has remained in Mexico City, where he currently resides. He took a year sabbatical in 2010 to study the first Australian plants collected in 1770, which are at the Natural History Museum of London.

His works range from artist’s books, print editions, enamel installations, etched glass, and paintings, to architectural projects. Since the 2000s, he has held an average of three to four exhibitions each year. In the 1970s and early 1980s, he started with multiple exhibitions at galleries in the Netherlands such as Agora Studio in Maastricht and Printshop and Galerie Clement in Amsterdam then the Galería de Arte Mexicano in Mexico City after he took up residence.[3] He began exhibiting solo in 1975 and since has participated in both solo and group exhibitions in Mexico, Europe, the United States, Asia and Africa.

A number of these were major exhibitions which toured in multiple places. Bitacora consists of images from various countries. It was exhibited in the Wan Fung Gallery in Beijing, Zhu Qi-Zhan Museum in Shanghai, Erasmushuis, in Djakarta, UTS Gallery Sydney, Tropenmuseum, Amsterdam, Museum of Painting and Sculpture in Ankara and the Centro de la Imagen, Mexico City. Storyboard was exhibited in the Instituto Cultural Cabañas in Guadalajara, Museo Amparo, Puebla and Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Monterrey. Botánica was exhibited at the Calcografía Nacional de España in Madrid, Espacio Cultural Metropolitano in Tampico, Museo de Arte in Querétaro, Centro Cultural Tijuana, Galería de Arte Mexicano in Mexico City.

He work can be found in numerous public and private collections in various parts of the world including, Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes y Literatura, National Council for Culture and Arts of Mexico, Hiscox in London, Institution Ferial de Extremadura, Junta de Extremadura, the Bankinter Collection, the Baker & McKenzie Collection, the Caixanova Collection, the Museo de la Comunidad de Madrid, Rodriguez Acosta Foundation in Granada, Bibliothèque nationale de France, Bonnefanten Museum, Fundación Cultural Televisa, Institution de Artes Gráficas in Oaxaca, Museum Von Bommel and Tropenmuseum in Amsterdam, Museo Universitario de Ciencias y Arte of UNAM and Irish Museum of Modern Art .

Some of Jan Hendrix his publications are available through www.ftn-books.com

jan hendrix

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Jan Bor (1910-1994)

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Recently i added a catalogue published by the Dordrechts Museum to my inventory. The catalogue published in 1995, caught my eye because of its design. Designed by Richard van den Dool it has become a beautiful publication on a painter who is hardly known. Taught and certainly influenced by Charley Toorop he left a small oeuvre which deserves to be better known. Among art lovers his name is known, but outside the “in Crowd” his name will rarely be mentioned. Here is an oppertunity to inform yourself on this lesser known painter from the last century. Book is available at www.ftn-books.com 

jan bor