Born in 1942 in Utrecht, Charlotte Mutsaers was the daughter of art historian Barend Mutsaers. She studied Dutch Language and Literature and later worked as a Dutch language teacher. In the evenings, she pursued a degree in visual arts at the Gerrit Rietveld Academy, where she eventually became a painting instructor after graduating.
In 1983, she made her debut with “The Circus of the Mind,” a collection of modern emblems. This marked the start of a diverse body of work, consisting of poetry, essays, visual stories, and novels. In 2010, she received the P.C. Hooft Prize for her narrative prose. The jury described her work as “a delight for readers who want to let their minds wander” and praised her oeuvre for “the coherence in work that seems so capricious at first glance.”
www.ftn-books.com has some special publications by Mutsaers now available.
Behind the pseudonym Suzy Embo (BE, °1936) lies a privileged witness of the post-war Belgian avant-garde movement. From abstracted imagery to cameraless experiments, Embo’s early works seamlessly aligned with Otto Steinert’s “Subjektive Fotografie”. However, in the 1960s, her artistic vision took a new direction and she found herself balancing between being an “artist photographer” and a “photographer of artists”. Her friendship with Cobra artist Pierre Alechinsky and marriage to sculptor Reinhoud d’Haese brought her closer to the international art scene. As a result, her lens shifted towards capturing informal and intimate portraits of renowned artists such as Christian Dotremont and Jean Messagier during their creative processes.
www.ftn-books.com has the Embo made photograph of Loyise Nevelson now available
Mark Brusse (1937), a renowned sculptor, ceramicist, painter, and graphic artist, has resided in Paris since 1961. His father was the acclaimed writer and journalist Marie Joseph Brusse (1873-1941), and among his six brothers, Jan and Peter Brusse (correspondents), filmmaker Ytzen Brusse, architect Henk Brusse, and actor Kees Brusse are well known. He spent his youth in Bergen (NH) and after his father’s death, in Nijmegen where his stepfather’s house burned down during the bombing in 1944. Brusse enrolled in the academy in Arnhem in 1958 (residing at Parkstraat 20). During his studies, he developed a friendship with Klaas Gubbels, Rik van Bentem, Ted Felen, and co-founded NADA, a collective with the aim of breaking into Amsterdam’s art scene. He succeeded and received a grant from the Maison Descartes to live and work in Paris for eight months. In Paris, he encountered the Nouveaux Réalistes (led by Pierre Restany), which included Jean Tinguely and Yves Klein.
In the following years, he spent months abroad regularly, such as in New York (1965) where he met Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein, and others, on the recommendation of Cees Nooteboom, Berlin (1970), Japan (1983), Korea (1983), and Benin in Africa.
Death, decay, and their handling in non-Western cultures play a significant role in Brusse’s work, often described as poetic. The Japanese culture, in particular, has had a lasting influence on his art. He works extensively in ceramics and stone, creating wooden assemblages. Additionally, he employs various graphic techniques and creates large paintings.
One of Brusse’s most recognized works is “Hommage a Piet Mondriaan” from 1965, which is housed in the Stedelijk Museum.
www.ftn-books.com has some very early Brusse publications available.
Renowned German artist Klaus Staudt stands as a prominent figure in Germany’s sphere of constructive-concrete art. Credited as the originator of autonomous reliefs, his creations never fail to evoke new sensations upon revisiting. With adept manipulation of light and shadow, surface and space, as well as form and color, Staudt challenges the conventional modes of perception. The use of Plexiglass proves to be a fitting medium for bringing his ideas to life, owing to its translucent and unobstructed nature. Through the use of strategically placed, simple wooden elements painted in crisp white, Staudt deftly creates a sense of rhythm and structure within the pictorial space. An inquisitive eye and contemplative mind are crucial for fully grasping the depth and complexity of Staudt’s artistic expression.
Daniel Buren is a representative, yet also a critic of “institutional critique,” a branch of conceptual art that emerged in the late 1960s. His work is distinguished by the recognizable stripe motif: bands, always 8.7 cm wide, which the artist has referred to as his “visual tool” since 1965. This “visual tool” is not only integrated in places where art is exhibited, but also in the urban landscape, for example on buildings, shop windows, buses, and billboards. Purposefully, he blurs the lines between studio, gallery, museum, and the outside world. As an “institutionally critical” artist, Buren persistently opposes the codes, norms, and values of the art world.
At one point in time, Tobey was an unfamiliar name to me, until I laid eyes on his large-scale works at both the Beyeler and Stedelijk Museums. It was then that I became an ardent admirer.
My journey with Tobey began with a catalogue I acquired two decades ago. Initially drawn to the Wim Crouwel design, I was immediately captivated by Tobey’s pieces within it.
Tobey is renowned for his creation of “white writing” – the superimposition of white or light-colored calligraphic symbols on an abstract background which is itself composed of thousands of intricate brush strokes. This technique, in turn, inspired the popular “all-over” painting style, made famous by Jackson Pollock, another American artist to whom Tobey is often compared.
While Tobey worked on pieces of varying sizes, I find his large works to be the most impressive. For the last 16 years of his life, he resided in Basel, which explains why many of his works still remain there. However, he was also an avid traveler, visiting Mexico, Europe, Palestine, Israel, Turkey, Lebanon, China, and Japan, spreading his art organically across the globe. Despite his travels, the majority of his body of work remains in Switzerland, where he lived for 16 years.
His pieces can be found in prestigious collections, such as the Smithsonian American Art Museum, Tate Gallery in London, Museum of Modern Art in New York City, Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the Whitney Museum of American Art. Several posthumous exhibitions have been dedicated to Tobey’s work, including those at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., USA, 1984; Museum Folkwang in Essen, Germany, 1989; Galerie Beyeler in Basel, Switzerland, 1990; and Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía.
Günther Uecker, a prominent figure in Düsseldorf’s postwar Group Zero, has dedicated six decades to perfecting his reliefs that feature dynamic arrangements of nails. Born in 1930 in Wendorf, Germany, Uecker pursued his education at the Kunsthochschule Berlin Weissensee and Kunstakademie in Düsseldorf, where he currently resides and creates. Drawing inspiration from Eastern philosophy and Gregorian chants, Uecker began a ritual of hammering nails in the 1950s. To the artist, these materials symbolize protection and the act of creation; he vividly recalls nailing planks over his home’s windows after the Second World War to deter Soviet troops.
By 1957, Uecker had advanced to hammering nails onto canvas, achieving a captivating “sundial” optical effect that played with light and shadow in ever-changing patterns. As his artistic vision evolved, he incorporated lightboxes, rotating discs, television sets, and even furniture – as seen in his notable nail sculpture, “Stuhl” (1963). In 1961, Uecker teamed up with Heinz Mack and Otto Piene to form the anti-expressionist movement Group Zero, which sought to push the boundaries of traditional canvas dimensions and explore the realms of kinetic, serial, and participatory art. Even after the group dissolved in 1966, Uecker continued to push artistic boundaries, incorporating elements of conceptual and land art into his work and designing stage sets for operas. Notable public works include “From Darkness to Light” at the United Nations in Geneva (1978) and a Reflection and Prayer Room for the Reichstag in Berlin (2000). In 2020, he embarked on his latest series, “Lichtbogen,” featuring minimalist paintings with radiant blue and white arcs.
Uecker’s impressive body of work has been featured in solo exhibitions at prestigious museums worldwide. His work has been the subject of retrospectives at the Central House of Artists in Moscow (1988) and the Kunsthalle München (1993), and he has participated in Documenta (1964, 1968, 1977) and the 1970 Venice Biennale. His art is prominently displayed in collections at the Art Institute of Chicago, Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, and Museum of Modern Art in New York, Walker Art Center in Minneapolis, Hamburger Bahnhof in Berlin, and Museum Ludwig in Cologne.
www.ftn-books.com has many titles related to ZERO and Uecker available.
Willem Mengelberg, the renowned conductor of the Amsterdam Concertgebouw Orchestra, was enraptured by Mahler’s music upon witnessing the first performance of his Third Symphony in Krefeld (G) in 1902. From that moment on, he fervently championed Mahler’s music, hailing him as “the Beethoven of his time”. Mengelberg’s unwavering dedication to introducing Mahler’s music resulted in him attaining a prominent position in both The Netherlands and Europe, surpassing his contemporaries in this regard.
Multiple times, Mengelberg endeavoured to persuade Mahler to conduct his own works in Amsterdam. This aspiration was partly realized in 1903, 1904, 1906 and 1909, during which the composer resided with the Mengelbergs in their home. However, due to his numerous commitments elsewhere, Mahler often had to decline Mengelberg’s invitations to conduct.
Mengelberg’s resolve in promoting Mahler’s music should not be disregarded. During that time, a significant portion of the audience would leave the concert hall to protest against Mahler’s music, which was often subjected to ridicule by critics. Undeterred, Mengelberg firmly believed in Mahler’s genius, inspiring him to endure in his tireless efforts, even if it meant going against the current. Eventually, after years of perseverance, a ‘Mahler community’ emerged in The Netherlands, laying the foundation for the tremendous success of the ‘Mahler Feest’ in 1920, garnering global recognition. In the 1920s, Mengelberg, now also the conductor of the New York Philharmonic, continued his crusade to introduce Mahler’s music to the American audience.
Mengelberg stands as one of the primary pioneers of Mahler, deserving a special place of honor in our memory. His relentless dedication to familiarizing a wider audience with Mahler’s music significantly contributed to the international Mahler culture of that era.
Willem Mengelberg, the renowned conductor of the Amsterdam Concertgebouw Orchestra, was captivated by Mahler’s music when he attended the premiere of his Third Symphony in Krefeld (G) in 1902. He immediately took it upon himself to promote Mahler’s music, declaring him as “the Beethoven of his time.” Through his tireless efforts, Mengelberg gained a prominent position in both the Netherlands and Europe, surpassing other contemporary conductors in his commitment to introducing Mahler’s music.
The Willem Mengelberg archives, housed in the Netherlands Music Institute, hold a wealth of materials including his conducting scores. These scores are marked with colorful annotations that offer insight into Mengelberg’s interpretation of the works. Many of these scores also feature instructions and remarks from Mahler himself, providing tangible evidence of the close relationship between the two great musicians.
Why focus on Mengelberg in this blog? It was nearly 20 years ago, well before the surge of elaborate publications such as those by Newton and Araki, that a remarkably large and impressive book was published for the Mengelberg Festival 1995. Weighing over 5 kilograms and encased in a blue linen covered container, this publication includes a text volume and a separate volume featuring Mengelberg’s musical scores complete with his annotations. What makes this facsimile even more special is that it was designed by one of my personal heroes, Wim Crouwel. This publication will remain in high demand for many years to come and is a rare find. I am pleased to offer two pristine copies from a remainder stock on www.ftn-books.com.
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Hailing from Hokkaidō, Japan in 1953, Tadashi Kawamata currently resides and works in both Tokyo and Paris. His artistic journey, which began in the 1970s when he studied painting, sets itself apart with a notable lack of complacency. Nothing is taken for granted as Kawamata immerses us in a process that demands careful examination of the environments we create for ourselves, provoking questions of human needs and desires. With a keen eye for context, Kawamata selects his gestures and materials with great precision.
Renowned for his in situ interventions, Kawamata pieces together installations using various materials such as wooden planks, chairs, and barrels. Utilizing these materials, he constructs fragile Babylonian structures, treehouses, roof installations, and even stretches them out to form serpentine shapes. For those who dare to experiment with his works, climb up onto them, or simply set foot on them, a new perspective is revealed – in every sense – of the space they are situated in.
Kawamata’s work has been displayed in prominent international institutions, including MAAT in Lisbon (2018), Pushkin Museum in Moscow (2018), Made in Cloister in Napoli (2017), the Thurgau Art Museum in Switzerland (2014), the Centre Pompidou in Paris (2010 and 2016), the Toyosu Dome in Tokyo (2010-2013), the HKW in Berlin (2009), the Art Tower Mito in Mito (2001), the Serpentine Gallery in London (1997), the Artpace San Antonio (1998), and the MACBA in Barcelona (1996). He has also been featured in various art biennales, such as the Venice Biennale (1982), documenta 8 and IX (1987 and 1992), the international Biennale of São Paulo (1987), the Contemporary Art Biennale in Lyon (1993), the Skulptur Projekte Münster (1997), the Sydney Biennale (1998), the Jerusalem Biennale (1999), the Echigo-Tsumari Art Triennale in Niigata (2000), the Shanghai Biennale, and the Busan Biennale.
Regarded as the pioneer of the New Typography, Tschichold’s influence can be seen in the works of Sandberg, Crouwel, and other great designers. An education in Germany sparked his interest in typography when he visited an exhibition at the Bauhaus/Weimar in 1924. However, instead of registering himself in Nazi Germany, Tschichold chose to flee with his family to Switzerland due to safety concerns. He spent the rest of his life there, except for a brief period in England from 1947 to 1949, where he revamped the covers for over 500 Penguin pocket books. Many may not be familiar with Tschichold’s name, but chances are they have a Penguin pocket book on their shelf that was designed by him. Not only was Tschichold a master of design, but his use of new fonts and clean typography made his work highly recognizable. Want to delve deeper into the world of typography? Tschichold is a must-know figure and a great place to start.
Artist/ Author: Oliver Boberg
Title : Memorial
Publisher: Oliver Boberg
Measurements: Frame measures 51 x 42 cm. original C print is 35 x 25 cm.
Condition: mint
signed by Oliver Boberg in pen and numbered 14/20 from an edition of 20
