Category: Geen categorie

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Willem Sandberg must have admired Matisse

As a curator, Sandberg held a deep admiration for Matisse as an artist, and it can be assumed that Sandberg, as an artist himself, must have drawn inspiration from the older master. This is evident in Sandberg’s famous paper cuttings, which were created during a period when he was battling an illness. Matisse himself referred to this technique as “painting with scissors.” Could it be possible that Matisse’s cut-outs were the source of inspiration for Sandberg’s use of modeled torn papers in his book designs? These torn pieces of paper, combined with carefully crafted layouts, resulted in highly personal and iconic publications by Sandberg. While there are certainly differences between the two artists’ works, they both existed during the same artistic period, making it plausible that Matisse’s technique influenced Sandberg’s use of paper.

However, the survival of these two types of artworks has been vastly different. Sandberg’s paper publications, printed on paper, have easily lasted for 50 years or more. On the other hand, Matisse’s fragile cut-outs require restoration in order to preserve them for future generations. In the past 10 years, two significant restoration projects have been undertaken. One of these projects was the restoration of Matisse’s large cut-out composition “La Perruche et la Sirène,” from the collection of the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam. The other was a project at the Beyeler Museum, in which visitors were able to witness the progress of restoring a large canvas titled “Acanthes.” These restored works are now on display at their respective museums, showcasing the true splendor of Matisse’s art.

These accomplishments serve as a testament to why Matisse is widely regarded as one of the greatest artists of the last century. To learn more about these two remarkable artists, visit www.ftn-books.com for a selection of publications. www.ftn-books.com recently added the Picasso Matisse publication from the Stedelijk MUseum to its collection

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Imi Knoebel (continued)

Imi Knoebel’s minimalist hybrids of painting and sculpture explore relationships between color and structure. Knoebel’s nonrepresentational works innovate on the modernist ideas and styles of Joseph Beuys, Kasimir Malevich, and the Bauhaus; the artist is interested in seriality, spare geometries, reductive color, and the use of industrial materials such as Masonite. Knoebel studied under Beuys at the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf and under László Moholy-Nagy at the Werkkunstschule Darmstadt; he has exhibited in Berlin, New York, Paris, Zürich, Tokyo, London, Vienna, and Rome. His work belongs in the collections of the Essl Museum, the Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen, the Museo Reina Sofía, the Art Institute of Chicago, and the Museum of Modern Art. While Knoebel is best known for his sculptural paintings, his practice also involves drawing, photographyI, projections, and installation. His work has sold for six figures at auction.

www.ftn-books.com has several Knoebel books available.

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Gilbert & George (continued)

As “living sculptures,” Gilbert & George have become an icon in the art world: initially despised by art critics for being too vulgar, too loud, and too flat, but soon becoming immensely popular and globally respected. They were the first in the 1960s to boldly and shamelessly place themselves at the center of their work. Always immaculately dressed in tweed suits, flawlessly elegant and politely friendly. In physical symbiosis, they move synchronously, composed and almost mechanically through their lives and work. In their shared universe, they seamlessly finish each other’s thoughts and sentences: “It’s very simple. We are two people, but one artist. That’s the secret.”

The artists met as students in 1967 in London and have worked and lived together as Gilbert & George since ’68. Their early work mainly consisted of performances, in which they portrayed living statues. Soon their oeuvre also included video, drawings, and especially photography. In the 1970s, their work evolved from assemblages with black and white photography to grid-like combinations of photos. The bright colors they added in the 1980s emphasized the smooth, caricatural nature of their montages. The works from this period depict life in the modern metropolis and the hopes and fears dominating the zeitgeist. In 1989, they created 25 large works on illness and destruction for a charity organization for AIDS patients. In “New Democratic Pictures” (1991), full of homo-erotic and Christian references, the artists appear completely nude for the first time.

Gilbert & George have rebelled against the elitism of art throughout their entire careers. They live in a working-class neighborhood in London and label their oeuvre as “Art for All.” Their goal is to reach the widest possible audience. “We simply cannot understand why an artist should intentionally be unclear, or do something that 99% of the population cannot comprehend. We aim to bring meaning and substance into art.” Their consciously cultivated disdain for the art world and their high productivity – up to 153 works in one year – perhaps explain why art critics initially loathed them. However, the absurd, ironic, and caricatural elements in their work are not merely mischievous parodies. Beneath the surface of the bold colors, silly faces, and intentionally unesthetic compositions lies an incredibly resistant criticism of reality.

fascinated by the works of G&G , www.ftn-books.com has built a large collection of GG related books and items.

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Gerard Petrus Fieret (continued)

In 1965, Fieret devoted himself to photography. Prior to that, he mostly created gouaches and charcoal portraits. Henri van de Waal (1910-1972), professor of Art History at Leiden University, was one of the earliest admirers of Fieret’s photographic work.

Thanks to Van de Waal’s efforts, Leiden University now possesses the largest collection of Fieret’s work in the world and his photography has been brought to the attention of institutions such as the Gemeentemuseum in The Hague. In 1971, this museum presented the first major solo exhibition of Fieret’s work.

Fieret was actively involved in photography until around 1980. During those years, he produced an enormous amount of black and white photos. His subjects were everything he encountered in his immediate surroundings: women, himself, animals, children, and objects on the street.

Genuine essence
His photos were always quickly taken with a simple 35mm camera, often from an unusual angle, and frequently show blur and a messy composition.

The developing and printing process was hasty, using not particularly pure chemicals, and with little respect for the photographic paper. This is what gives the prints their characteristic yellow spots, tears, and other imperfections.

A large portion of Fieret’s photos are signed with a felt-tip pen and often stamped with one or more stamps. All of this adds to the genuine essence exuded by Fieret’s photographs.

“The Pigeon Man”
For years, Gerard Fieret was a noticeable, well-known figure in the city center of The Hague. He was nicknamed “The Pigeon Man” because he would ride around on his bike every day with two buckets of bird feed, stopping at around thirty places to feed his favorite birds.

In recent decades, Fieret’s photographic oeuvre has remained underappreciated, but in recent times, there has been a growing appreciation for his work, evidenced by the popularity of his pieces at auctions in Amsterdam and New York.

www.ftn-books.com has some very special Fieret titles available

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Julio Galán (continued)

The Julio Galán publication is released on the occasion of the Julio Galán exhibition held at Witte de With Center for Contemporary Art from 2 June to 15 July 1990.

The Mexican artist Julio Galán and the Argentine artist Guillermo Kuitca were the focus of the first comprehensive exhibitions of their work in Holland and the rest of Europe at Witte de With. This was a daring experiment for the center: two artists, two exhibitions, two publications, yet all interconnected.

Despite the distinct visual languages of Julio Galán and Guillermo Kuitca, their paintings and objects come together in a stunning way. They contradict and complement each other. Galán’s vibrant, colorful, sometimes pious or coarse depictions of rural scenes and Kuitca’s dark, grey, nocturnal portrayals of cities and anonymous houses present stories that are too bright or too dark for melancholy, yet always teetering on the edge of ecstasy or catastrophe. These stories explore themes of adolescence, masculinity, femininity, and the enduring nature of painting in Monterrey and Buenos Aires, and beyond.

www.ftn-books.com has the GALAN witte de with publication now available:

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Eva Besnyö (continued)

Refracting light on Eva Besnyö (1910-2003), a Hungarian by birth, who received her formal education under the tutelage of acclaimed photographer Jozsef Pecsi. In 1930, she relocated to Berlin and there she met her future spouse, John Fernhout. Through him, she was integrated into the circle of the renowned painter Charley Toorop. During the 1930s, she was commissioned to capture an array of architectural marvels, showcasing her impeccable talent. Post-war, she shifted her focus towards documenting series. In the seventies, she was heavily invested in the feminist movement Dolle Mina, zealously preserving its essence through numerous photographs. In 1994, she was bestowed with the prestigious oeuvre award by the Fonds BKVB and in 1999, she graciously accepted the Dr. Erich Salomon Prize in Berlin. The Maria Austria Institute has released various publications chronicling her journey. Eva Besnyö, along with Benno Premsela and Paul Huf, served on the board of the Maria Austria Institute for many years, forming a vibrant and inspiring trio.

www.ftn-books.com has some nice Besnyō titles available

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Antoni Tapies (continued)

We are relocating!
In the coming weeks we will be occupied with packing and moving our internet store inventory. The entire collection needs to be transferred from Leidschendam to Oegstgeest, and this will take some time.
If all goes according to plan, we will be fully operational again on November 21st, but until then, it may happen that we are unable to immediately assist you with your order. We ask for your understanding, but as soon as possible, your order will be fulfilled with the utmost speed.

Hopefully this is the last reminder notification and from tomorrow everything is normal again.

The abstract paintings of Spanish artist Antoni Tàpies brimmed with symbolism. Tàpies firmly believed that it was up to the viewer to make their own associations with the art. Even the cross, an image frequently featured in his works, held no specific meaning in his eyes. In 1984, Edy de Wilde selected Tàpies’ work to be included in the ‘Grande Parade’ exhibition. Among the pieces displayed were ‘Jambre et croix rouge’ (1982) and ‘Vernis avec formes noires’ (1982), both featuring crosses. Tàpies’ art demonstrated the loss of the representational function in modern art. Nature appeared in a different light, conveyed through abstract images, with each piece evoking a different reaction – some had everything to say, while others nothing at all.

www.ftn-books.com has some Tapies catalogs available.

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Niele Toroni (continued)

We are relocating!
In the coming weeks we will be occupied with packing and moving our internet store inventory. The entire collection needs to be transferred from Leidschendam to Oegstgeest, and this will take some time.
If all goes according to plan, we will be fully operational again on November 21st, but until then, it may happen that we are unable to immediately assist you with your order. We ask for your understanding, but as soon as possible, your order will be fulfilled with the utmost speed.

Niele Toroni, a contemporary Swiss artist, is renowned for his radical abstraction in painting. As a pictorial minimalist, he is a member of the B.M.P.T. founded in 1967 alongside Daniel Buren, Olivier Mosset, and Michel Parmentier. Since 1966, Toroni has employed a unique painting method, using a flat brush that is 50 mm wide to apply regular 30 cm intervals on a given surface, never deviating from this established routine. However, to limit Toroni’s artwork to a single statement would be to overlook its multifaceted deployment. The painter’s intention is to convey a consistent message through an array of varying pictorial events. In this sense, Toroni’s technique inherently opposes a conceptual approach, as the goal of conceptual art is to expose itself as a purely linguistic statement.

www.ftn-books.com has some important Toroni titles available

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Klaas Gubbels (continued)

When creating his paintings, Gubbels assigns an almost character-like personality to the coffee pot – which he usually refers to as a kettle. It can be seen sitting on a chair at a table or meeting other brightly colored kettles within the two-dimensional space of the canvas. The physical characteristics of the coffee pot vary: a double handle, heart-shaped, multiple spouts, and even legs. Gubbels states that he wants to break the monotony. Hence, the subject matter remains the same, yet the resulting work is always different. Gubbels explains it as follows when talking about his series of “Super boring still lifes”: “I purposely want to turn the dullness around. So that the boredom becomes something.”

Gubbels carefully considers what to erase and what to leave in. He ponders whether or not to remove the charcoal lines that sometimes run alongside the outlines of the painted shapes. He is not interested in making a painting more aesthetically pleasing. “Stupid, strict rules” – in Gubbels’ own words – hold him back from doing so. A painting should remain as it is; aesthetics should not be a guiding principle.

The limited number of subjects that Gubbels uses as a starting point consist mainly of a table, coffee pot, chair, cup, and occasionally a bottle or funnel. They are sometimes painted in bright blue or flaming red, and other times in more subdued shades of gray.

Aside from paintings, Gubbels also creates prints and sculptures. He studied at the Willem de Kooning Academy in Rotterdam (1951-1952) and continued his education at the art academy in Arnhem (1952-1958). Exhibitions of his work have been shown at Museum Arnhem, Paleis Soestdijk (Baarn), and Livingstone Gallery (The Hague), among others.

www.ftn-books.com has several Gubbels items available.

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Robert Combas (continued)

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In the coming weeks we will be occupied with packing and moving our internet store inventory. The entire collection needs to be transferred from Leidschendam to Oegstgeest, and this will take some time.
If all goes according to plan, we will be fully operational again on November 21st, but until then, it may happen that we are unable to immediately assist you with your order. We ask for your understanding, but as soon as possible, your order will be fulfilled with the utmost speed

During the early 1980s, Robert Combas introduced a new form of figurative painting that left a lasting impact on the art scene. His pioneering work in the movement dubbed “Figuration Libre” by Ben Vautier brought together other notable artists such as Rémi Blanchard, François Boisrond, and Hervé Di Rosa.

Inspired by a sense of freedom, this art form boldly depicts various aspects of society such as violence, sexuality, human suffering, and simple pleasures. It also sheds light on societal flaws and narrow-mindedness, as well as moments of greatness.

Influenced by rock culture, popular imagery, childhood literature, school textbooks, and all that defines popular culture accessible to the masses, my approach sometimes involves using abstract techniques, reminiscent of abstract expressionism. However, the humorous and down-to-earth side of me is reflected in the figurative aspect of my work. It was initially a response to the intellectual paintings of the mid-seventies. Growing up in a working-class background and navigating through two different worlds, my paintings hold a deeper meaning. They exude a sense of boundless energy and offer a glimpse into my unrestricted creativity. Unlike cartoons, where one must adhere to set characters, my paintings grant me complete freedom – even with the format.

www.ftn-books.com has a special selection of books on Combas available.