Category: Geen categorie

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Cary Markerink ( 1951)

Spent the initial dozen years of life traversing Indonesia, the Netherlands, and Germany before eventually settling in the Netherlands.

Nurtured a passion for painting, writing, film, and photography since an early age.

Enrolled in art school in the late 1970s with the intention of pursuing a career as a painter, but ultimately discovered a love for photography and changed course.

Initially gained recognition for the project Stadsstillevens (City-stills), which showcased candid street scenes of Amsterdam in a realistic style, defying the prevalent trend of social photography at the time in the Netherlands.

Co-founded Fragment Publishers with a group of friends, with the aim of reviving the dying tradition of high-quality photo-books in the Netherlands. Notable publications include works by Ed van der Elsken, Cas Oorthuys, Johan van der Keuken, Hans Aarsman, Henze Boekhout, Willem Diepraam, and Wout Berger, carefully collaborating with top-notch designers, writers, and printing companies of the era.

Frequently journeyed to the Caribbean between the years of 1976 and 1981, getting involved in the struggle for land rights of the native Arawak and Carib peoples of Surinam.

Studied at St. Joost Academy in Breda and at Rietveld Academy in Amsterdam. As a photojournalist, he works for a large number of daily and weekly newspapers, creating various reports in Suriname.

For architects Lucien Lafour and Theo Bosch, he photographs various projects. He is the founder of publishing company Fragment and was an editor for the photography magazine ‘Plaatwerk’.

As an architectural photographer, Markerink is disappointed by the lack of interest in a building in action. Every moment of the day (cold or warm, day or night, rain or sun) shows a different use of architecture, also demonstrating whether the architect has thought about these things carefully.

In 1997, the Rijksmuseum acquired extra photos from Cary Markerink and Theo Baart from the series ‘The Highway’, a look at asphalted Netherlands.

www.ftn-books.com has the Slewe publication which was designed by Irma Boom now available.

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Diego Rivera (1886-1957)

Diego Rivera, a striking presence in the realm of 20th-century art, was an active painter for fifty years from 1907 to 1957. Of Mexican origin, Rivera spent a substantial portion of his adult life not only in Europe and the United States, but in his hometown of Mexico City as well. Initially experimenting with Cubism before fully embracing Post-Impressionism, his distinct style and outlook are unmistakably his own. An ardent Marxist, he was deeply involved in politics and joined the Mexican Communist Party in 1922. In the 1930s, he opened his home in Mexico City to Russian exile Leon Trotsky and his wife. Living in tumultuous times and leading a tempestuous existence, Diego Rivera, renowned for his Marxist beliefs, remains a countercultural icon of the 20th century. Along with Marxist revolutionary Che Guevara and a select group of contemporaries, he has forged a lasting legacy in the world of art, continuously sparking the imagination and intellect.

www.ftn-books.com has several boos on Rivera and his wife Frida Kahlo now available.

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Anne van As (1959)

Anne van As, born in 1959 in The Hague, currently resides and operates in Amsterdam. Having completed her studies at the prestigious Minerva Academy in Groningen, her artistic repertoire encompasses both painting and drawing.

Her academic achievements include graduating with distinction from the renowned ABK Minerva art academy in Groningen and the Breitner Academy at Amsterdam University of Arts.

Van As finds nature to be an endless source of fascination, with its sprawling plains, towering mountains, vibrant flora and diverse fauna. In her creations, the human element becomes obscured, veiling the world in a hauntingly beautiful haze. This desolation and ethereal quality serves as a testament to the inevitability of time and the impossibility of reliving the past. It is through this nostalgic lens that her pieces take on an eerie yet melancholic tone.

www.ftn-books.com has currently the wilderness title available.

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Günter Brus (1938-2024)

The subtle, frivolous drawings do not give away his true nature. His eyes portrayed like modern Art Nouveau posters, with graceful lines, twisted fairytale figures, and pretentiously gazing fashion models, just like his fellow countrymen Egon Schiele and Gustav Klimt had represented half a century earlier. However, Günter Brus was one of the most intense performance artists of his time, the 1960s, and a pioneer for generations to come. The Austrian passed away last weekend at the age of 85.

After his time at the Academy of Fine Arts in Graz and Vienna, he founded the Wiener Aktionismus in 1964, together with Otto Muehl, Hermann Nitsch, and Rudolf Schwarzkogler. It was an experimental group of body artists who did not hesitate to physically resist against the Austrian conservatism, good taste, and the lasting, post-war fascism in their home country.

The quartet surely did not create art for the faint-hearted: anti-bourgeois, shameless, and controversial. Nitsch became famous for his ritualistic slaughters (pigs), crucifixions (humans), and blood paintings; Muehl organized pee contests, managed a commune (literally), and was accused of child abuse; Schwarzkogler enjoyed wrapping himself, mutilating himself with a corkscrew, and having intercourse with fish and chickens (although the myth about him cutting off his own penis turned out to not be true).

The pinnacle of Brus’ oeuvre is his public performance in 1968, in which he sings the national anthem while masturbating, smears himself with feces, and drinks his own urine (which he then vomits back up). This results in a six-month prison sentence and a ban from Austria. He fled to Berlin, where he remained in exile until 1976.

He started quite moderate, actually. In 1960, he painted himself, his wife, and his studio with black and white paint. From self-painting to self-mutilation, the work gradually evolved. Culminating in his last action, Zerreissprobe (1970), where he cut open his own skin with a razor.

Using the body as a “canvas” has become common in the art world since the Viennese actionists. Just look at Marina Abramovic, who in one of her performances, used a razor to cut a communist star into her own stomach. Thanks to her and other performance artists, the work of Brus (and his colleagues), despite controversies and convictions, has become acceptable again. And what was once unthinkable: in 1996, he received the prestigious Großer Österreichischer Staatspreis. But by then, he had already turned to “proper” drawing.

www.ftn-books.com has a substantial selection of Brus and Wiener A§ktionismus publications.

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André Ostier (1906-1994)

Hailing from a bourgeois family in Paris, he commenced his professional journey as a bookseller at “À La Page” before transitioning into the realm of journalism. However, it was his eventual foray into photography that truly defined his career. Crafting a remarkable portfolio of portraits capturing the essence of artists and fashion, his works found their way into the pages of renowned illustrated publications prior to the outbreak of the war. Not one to stay grounded, he embarked on extensive travels, seizing the opportunity to capture captivating images during his journeys and immerse himself in the vibrant social circles of the artistic and cultural spheres.

As the war commenced, he found himself stationed in the southern regions of France, where he devoted himself to capturing the likeness of actors such as Micheline Presles and Pierre Jourdan, as well as renowned painters including Henri Matisse, Aristide Maillol, and Pierre Bonnard. Returning to Paris, he delved into documenting the occupied city, along with the enigmatic Château de Versailles, where sandbags intertwined with sculptures etched an indelible image in the collective memory. These powerful visuals, featured in Vogue français in 1945, would later inspire the esteemed poet Paul Eluard.

His defiance against the occupying forces eventually led to his apprehension in 1944, and he found himself imprisoned within the confines of Santé. Grappling with the uncertainty that stemmed from his Jewish background, he was granted freedom when General Leclerc’s troops triumphantly marched into Paris. Seizing the moment, he trailed alongside the troops, encapsulating their indomitable spirit through a series of portraits featuring the celebrated writer André Malraux.

With the war behind him, André Ostier, whose name had already become synonymous with excellence, cultivated friendships with luminaries such as Christian Dior and Jacques Fath, both masters of the groundbreaking new-look fashion movement. It was within their elegant creations that he found inspiration, meticulously immortalizing their innovations through the lens of his camera. Subsequently, the likes of Yves Saint-Laurent, Pierre Cardin, Coco Chanel, and Marcel Rochas joined the distinguished list of subjects, their unique personalities radiating through his empathetic photography.

Continuously driven by wanderlust, he embarked on numerous adventures, traversing the realms of India, China, Thailand, North Africa, and Europe, each offering a plethora of captivating scenes eager to be immortalized.

The legacy of André Ostier drew to a close in January 1994, leaving behind a substantial body of work that serves as a testament to the sociological, intellectual, and artistic milestones that shaped the marvels of 20th-century modernity, providing a profound understanding of the eras that paved the way for its inception.

www.ftn-books.com has the 1982 Mois de la Photo publication on the photographs by OSTIER available.

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Pinterest pages by FTN books & Art

I have been filling some Pinterest pages with items i have in my inventory and which i think are nice tos hare with other collectors. It contains some great and important poster and book designs from the last 70 years. Please share these and hopefully you will enjoy these Pinterest boards too.

I have created four boards which are filled regularly with all original photo’s by FTN . Feel free to join the boards and use the photographs for noncommercial usage. I expect to post over 15.000 items on Pinterest in the coming year.

There now are boards on the inventory of FTN books & Art, Stedelijk MUseum Amsterdam, Wim Crouwel, Willem Sandberg

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Kik Zeiler (1948)

Kick Seiler was already involved with Mokum gallery before he started painting. He lived on the top floor above the gallery. When Duque took an afternoon off, Kick would sometimes sit in the gallery, surrounded by the art that so fascinated him. He liked the atmosphere, but what impressed him most was the intensity of the art. Duque inspired him and gave Kiku his first chance. It was not surprising to him that after some time his work began to hang on the walls of Mokum. Kik has been selling well since its premiere. After that, he received many commissions for portrait painting, which is a genre of painting, and mastered it brilliantly. But Kick deals with more than just portraits. He considers it his job to paint the whole world. He can also regularly admire his still life paintings, parts of cities, and genre paintings depicting multiple figures in specific settings.

www.ftn-books.com has the Drents Museum catalog on his paintings available.

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Wim Schumacher (1894-1986)

Wim Schuhmacher (1894-1986) was given the nickname the Master of Gray. He is often mentioned in the same breath as neorealists such as Raoul Hynckes and Carel Willink. His work can also appear otherworldly, but seems lighter in atmosphere, serene, and less ominous. As a self-taught painter, Schuhmacher took pride in his flawless technique, with no visible brush strokes. Using ochres, he enlivened gray tones to subtly evoke a fragile sense of life. The application of this unique silver-grey veil felt like a discovery and triumph, he later explained. It also earned Schuhmacher his nickname the Master of Gray. While he traveled extensively in Southern Europe, he did not seek out flourishing landscapes or picturesque villages bathed in Mediterranean sun. It was in the Italian town of San Gimignano that Schuhmacher perfected his faded world, where the light seems to come from everywhere and nowhere at once. Like other neorealists after World War II, appreciation for Schuhmacher’s work waned in favor of abstract, expressive art. However, when he was asked by the Gemeentemuseum Arnhem in 1960 to participate in the first major exhibition with his fellow predecessors, Schuhmacher declined. The war had driven a wedge between certain “old masters.” He refused to hang in the same exhibition as Pyke Koch, who had been on the “wrong” side.

www.ftn-books.com has multiple publications on Schumacher available.

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Eric Kengen (1952)

After a brief period of schooling, Eric Kengen embarked on a journey of exploring different occupations, all the while pursuing his passion for drawing.

In 1982, a series of events culminated in his inaugural exhibition, which paved the way for him to fully immerse himself in the realm of painting. This art form became a vehicle for constructing his own identity. With the passing of time, a distinctive world took shape, characterized by a unique blend of ancient gestures, intricate connections, and a human form positioned under the auspices of the enigmatic and indecisive.



Enigmatic allure, the paradoxical pursuit of truth.
Delicacy, loyalty, ancestry, sensuality, symbolic representations, and kinship: each element plays a significant role, eloquently expressed through lucid and unambiguous language.

www.ftn-books.com has the Pierre Hallet catalog now available.

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Fon Klement(1930-2000)

This blog is meant to be a long overdue tribute to one of the artists I have admired in the first decade I was collecting art. I purchases my First KLEMENT at Arta in the early 70’s and realized when I visit my doctor, who has several Klements’ on the wall) that his art Is still appealing to me and has survived for 5 decades now.

Fon Klement’s journey as an artist began as a self-taught individual. After gaining recognition as a figurative painter and woodcutter, he ventured into the world of multicolored graphic sheets in 1960, using his distinctive technique known as “the relief cut board”. Gradually, recognizable forms made space for more abstract motifs, presented in a muted color palette.

The timing of Fon Klement’s rediscovery of the watercolor technique was impeccable, as he found himself at a crossroads in his artistic journey. The desire for change became increasingly strong, leading him on a quest that took him on a ten-week exploration of the Provence region. In his improvised studio in the southern French town of Lorgues, flowers were in abundance. Poppies, irises, roses, delphiniums, and hibiscus seduced the artist to continue pursuing the path he had previously embarked on: painting and watercoloring still lifes of flowers.

Since 1961, Fon Klement has been a member of Xylon, the international association of woodcutters, which regularly exhibits graphic art across Europe. The exhibition “Prints today in the USA”, featuring a comprehensive overview of Dutch artists’ prints including Fon Klement’s works, traveled extensively throughout the United States for many years. Fon Klement was awarded the Audience Prize during the “Grafiek Nu” graphic art biennial in Laren in autumn 1990, and later at the first international graphic art biennial in Maastricht in summer 1993.

www.ftn-books.com has now the van SPIJK publication on Fon Klement available.