Category: artists studios

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Mark Wallinger (1959)

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The first time i took notice of the works by Mark Wallinger was when i learned that this artist was presented at the Tate modern and that Saatchi took an interestb in the artist. The second occasion was when i actually owned a true signed Mark Wallinger. Nothing very special because it was a Christmas Momart edition but still an original work of art signed by the artist himself.

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From that time on i occasionally encountered works by him, but never in the Netherlands, because to my knowledge non of the larger museums have works by Wallinger in their collections. Still there must be an interest for this artist because when you compare the black and white eighties paintings by Armando there are quite some similarities to be found in use of color and composition

Nevertheless for more books and publications on WALLINGER and the late ARMANDO please visit www.ftn-books.com

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James Bishop (1927)

It was i think our third visit to the Josef Albers Museum in Bottrop when we encountered the works by James Bishop… and…they blew me away!

Large scaled paintings, extremely delicate colors combined in compositions which were part constructivist and familiar and other ways totally different because of the scale,  composition and impact.

I tried to find more on James Bishop , but beside the excellent gallery exhibitions at David Zwirner it is hard to find more on Bishop. Here is a short list of exhibitions in which he was presented.

  • 1963: Galerie Lucien Durand, Paris, France
  • 1966: Fischbach Gallery, New York, New York
  • 1993: Kunstmuseum Winterthur, Switzerland
  • 2008: Staatliche Graphische Sammlung, Munich, Germany
  • 2014: David Zwirner, New York, New York

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This is an artist who grows on you. An artist who is one of a kind. For me he has the same qualities as many better known artists from his genaration, but is not the household name in modern art he should be. Try to see some of his works when you the chance , because this is an artist well worth discovering. www.ftn-books.com has a signed exhibition poster from this artist available.

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Josef Albers and his Christmas card from 1952

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On this Christmas eve some thoughts by Josef Albers :

Wenn ich male
sehe und denke ich zunächst – Farbe

Und zumeist Farbe als Bewegung

Nicht als Begleitung
von Form, die seitwärts bewegt,
nur seitwärts verbleibt

Sondern als Farbe in dauernder innerer Bewegung

Nicht nur in Interaktion und Interdependenz
mit Nachbarfarben,
verbunden wie unverbunden

Sondern in Aggression – zum wie vom Beschauer
in direktem frontalen Uns-Anschauen

Und näher betrachtet,
als ein Atem und Pulsieren – in der Farbe

When I paint
I think and see
first and most – color
but color as motion

Color not only accompanying
form of lateral extension
and after being moved
remaining arrested

But of perpetual inner movement
as aggression – to and from the spectator
besides interaction an interdependence
with shape and hue and light

Color in a direct and frontal focus
and when closely felt
as a breathing and pulsating
– from within

Josef Albers

The card below was the original Josef Albers Christmas card from 1952

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Unfortunately this card is NOT available at www.ftn-books.com, but many other Albers item are available. a Merry Xmas from Wilfried van den Elshout and FTN books

 

 

 

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Gerard Verdijk THE MOUNTAIN OF EINSTEIN

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Finally, after a period of over 7 years , the long awaited publication on Gerard Verdijk and his art was presented last month in Amsterdam.  After hard work and contributions by many a  true MAGNUS OPUS has been published on the art and life of Gerard Verdijk. To give an impression….. it is thick and heavy, a publication with approximately 1000 photographs on Verdijk and his works. 382 pages, size is 12 x 12 inches and the weight…. a heavy 3.1 kg.

But what is more important, this publication has hardly any faults and is an absolute must for the art lover and collector. Edition size is only 700 copies of this 1st and only printing. The MOUNTAIN OF EINSTEIN is a book to hold, collect and cherish and can be ordered as long as it is available for only euro 99,00 ( excl. postage) at :

www.ftn-books.com or you can place your order with Josephine Sloet at : josephinesloet@gmail.com.

btw. More news on Josephine Sloet and her art in the next couple of days.

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Yves Tanguy (1900-1955)

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Look at the portrait and you think Tanguy is a punk from the Seventies, but he is far from ….

He is rooted in the surreal mouvement of the mid Twenties from last century and met with artists like Dali, Miro and de Chirico and found himself in the middle of a surrealistic art mouvement. His paintings are typical for surrealism, but because of the landscape qualities  and the typical Tanguy surreal elements they more look like abstract forms in a landscape than other typical surreal paintings that always have a realistic element in them.

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For me Tanguy’s art goes beyond surrealism and is more an abstract kind of art than surreal. In the Netherlands there was a painter who had the same qualities. Pieter Ouborg started as a surreal painter but later he developed an art language of his own. Turning surreal elements into abstract elements. This is the same what i think Tanguy does. Turning forms in to abstract elements and composing them in the landscape of the painting.  www.ftn-books.com has Tanguy titles available

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Jean Paul Riopelle (1923-2002)

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Two names spring to mind when you look at the works by Jean Paul Riopelle  ( Canada , 1923) and read about his life. He lived near Giverny ( the place where Monet had his studio and gardens) and he used a technique much the same as Jackson Pollock did. Dripping paint on a horizontal canvas. The result ….. colorful and abstract compositions which have the colors of a Monet painting and the abstract construction of a Pollock one.

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Riopelle’s style in the 1940s changed quickly from Surrealism to Lyrical Abstraction (related to abstract expressionism), in which he used myriad tumultuous cubes and triangles of multicolored elements, facetted with a palette knife, spatula, or trowel, on often large canvases to create powerful atmospheres.

The presence of long filaments of paint in his painting from 1948 through the early 1950s has often been seen as resulting from a dripping technique like that of Jackson Pollock. Rather, the creation of such effects came from the act of throwing, with a palette knife or brush, large quantities of paint onto the stretched canvas (positioned vertically).

For me Riopelle is a fascinating artist and because of the beautiful publications Maeght made with this artist it is not entirely out of reach financially. A very nice Riopelle publications can be obtained for less than euro 100,– at www.ftn-books.com

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Aat Veldhoen (1934-2018)

Perhaps he wasn’t the greatest dutch artist that ever lived, but still Veldhoen deserves his place in art history . He was the artist who almost “commercially” destroyed himself, by making his prints available for ALL and in someway inventing the multiple for the masses.

He drew his subjects directly on the plate and made rotaprints from these plates. Used cheap papers and sold these prints, which were not signed nor numbered from a cart run by Robert Jasper Grootveld for the extremely small amount of 3 dutch guilders. It meant that with so many works by Veldhoen on the market, his paintings and drawings were not valued as they should be.

Aat Veldhoen was a well known and colorful figure in the dutch art scene and had a 20 year relationship with Hedy d’Ancona, the former minister of Culture from the Netherlands.

 

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Carel Blazer (1911-1980)

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A great dutch photographer who is known for his Fifties and Sixties photography , but also for his active part in the resistance during WWII.

Some interesting periods during the life of Blazer made him a true international photographer.

After been educated at the Kunstgewerbeschule in Zurich, he soon after travelled Spain to photograph the Civil war. After that period he travelled Italy and visited Rome to photograph this city which photographs were published in a book by Contact. Later there were travels to Asia and Sicily. On both occasions series of photographs were taken and published.

Willem Sandberg took an interest in these photographs and presented a selection at an exhibition at the Stedelijk Museum which catalogue is available at www.ftnbooks.com

There are many titles which have these breathtaking Blazer photographs in them, so beside the ones that i have in my shop please locate 50’s and 60’s books at bookmarkets and look into the colofon to discover if photographs by Blazer are included.

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Jean Messagier (1920-1999)

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Personally i think Jean Messagier was a true Avant Garde artist. He explored paths and ways of painting well before others did and researched and developed a kind of painting which was typical for his art.

An almost spontaneous movement with the brush makes paintings and watercolors that feel organic, but these works are far from spontaneous, but well thought over works of art . It is the same as with Hans Hartung. The works look existed from some movements with pencil or brush, but designs and sketches prove that the gesture is not spontane and the result not just abstract, but a very well thought over abstract composition which is enlarged for the painting.

The same with Jean Messagier works . It is not necessary to buy an expensive painting by Messagier, because the Maeght gallery made some very nice Derriere le Miroir publication with Messagier and www.ftn-books.com has one of the most sought after CARGO publications with work by Jean Messagier available at its site.

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Giovanni Nicolai ( continued )

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This is to announce that FTN Art will represent Giovanni Nicolai with his art work.

From now on a selection of his art will be available in the FTN Art section of these pages. Feel free to contact me if you want more information. The start will be  a series of affordable sketches at euro 150,–. Executed in different techniques with Crayon , pencil and paint on paper. If you desire information on his paintings please sent me a mail and i will propose you  a selection of paintings currently available.

Giovanni Nicolai Italian men no. 6