Category: Geen categorie

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the brilliant “Jong Amerika Schildert” catalogue from 1958

The year is 1958, …the curator Willem Sandberg. The exhibition JONG AMERIKA SCHILDERT, organized by the Stedelijk Museum together with the Museum Of Modern Art,

This is arguably Sandberg his most important exhibition, because this was for the years to come the foundation under all Stedelijk Museum Exhibitions. The artists list now reads like an all time greatest list with many of them record breaking artists. Not only in auction results, but certainly with the total number of exhibition visitors. Just some of the now very famous names who were not that well known in those days. Pollock, Newman, Rothko, de Kooning and Kline are now among the most appreciated artists ever and all were in this one exhibition. Willem Sandberg wrote history with this exhibition and what makes the catalogue even more worth wile is not only the typical Sandberg design but the special art  by Pollock and Gottlieb which is used for the cover. This catalogue is available at www.ftn-books.com

amerika schildert cc

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Jack B. Yeats (1871-1957)

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Never heard of Yeats as a painter, until Rudi Fuchs curated an exhibition with his paintings at the Haags Gemeentemuseum and it was a nice surprise. His painting is spontane , a little childish and impressionistic at the same time and thus resulting in a painting what is typical for Yeats with a signature of its own. The exhibition was not that large and i remember that the sizes of the paintings were not that large too.

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What i do remember was the excellent catalogue Gracia Lebbink designed with the exhibition. It was one of her first lareg catalogues she made for the Gemeentemuseum but it has proven to be a classic and available at www.ftn-books.com

yeats

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Outsider Art of atelier de Herenplaats

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By chance i found a publication by atelier de Herenplaats. An artist studio for the mentally deficient and i was really surprised to find some great art within this publiucation. This Art Brut/Outsider Art is matured and must be considered as true art. The spontanious compositions delight and i have read on the site of de Herenplaats that many of their artist have had their ( international) presentations in galeries and museums.

de Herenplaats site can be found on this address: www.herenplaats.nl

and www.ftn-books.com has the Herenplaats publication now for sale in its shop.

visjes

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Oxenaar…the year 1985…the artists : David Nash and Sjoerd Buisman

It is in 1985 that David Nash and Sjoerd Buisman are both invited by Rudi Oxenaar to make a contribution to the 50 years anniversary of the Nationaal Park de Hoge Veluwe.

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On the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the Hoge Veluwe National Park, the ‘Steyn-park’, designed by Henry van de Velde, is restored, ‘both in terms of the afforestation and foliage and the paving’. Furthermore, the artists David Nash and Sjoerd Buisman are invited to realize two projects each in the grounds of the Hoge Veluwe. These Growing sculptures are subsequently acquired by Oxenaar.

buisman nash

I witnissed at one time one of these growing sculptures by Sjoerd Buisman. He realized a project at the pondds of the Gemeentemuseum , by splanting sticks into the grounds of the water. Over time these sprouted into bushes along the shores of the ponds. Since i could witness the progression and growing of this sculpture it fascinated me more over time. The total length of the project was about 3 month. Ther book on the project is available at www.ftn-books.com

 

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Erwin Olaf exhibition….

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The Erwin Olaf exhibitions at the Gemeentemuseum/ Fotomuseum are now closed for some months and what remains i sthe memory of a highly successful exhibitions with evn for me had some new elements in it which i did not have seen before. I had seen the cabinet with the peeping holes, but the Video wall with some 20 nude people who  crouched and erecetd themselves was impressing. The catalogue however did not do justice to the exhibition. Too large, too expensive and the lesser known moving images from the video walls were missing. Still a great exhibition to remember and for those collectors interested i secured some of the materials that were published to promote the exhibition .

olaf set x

These are available at www.ftn-books.com together with some other nice Erwin Olaf publications

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Jan van Munster (1939)

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Jan van Munster stands for me personally as the artist who experimenst with Neon and Pyrographics and using these to create Minimal objects and sculptures. I noticed his works for the first time when a work of him was presented at the Gemeentemuseum Den Haag. It weas a neon sculpture and made in an edition of a few copies and for sale at the museum shop. Unfortunately i did not have the insight at that time to buy it, but the memory remains, because it was the first van Munster i had seen. This is not the easiest of art to admire, but once you follow his career and search back throught the decades that he has made his art, you conclude that he always stayed true to his origins. One of the characteristics that keep reappearing is that he uses frequently two elements on his covers of the catalogues that are published with his works.

munster diep b

First…many of his covers are embossed and second. ….in many cases there is a special Pyrographic made/burnt into the cover of his catalogues, making these original, one of a kind works of art at a more than reasonable price. www.ftn-books.com has some nice van Munster titles available.

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Francesca Woodman ( 1958-1981 )

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francesca Woodman is from the Robert Mapplethorpe and Erwin Olaf generation of photographers, but her approach is totally different. This is not so much a form of staged photography , but more a search… a search for the surreal. This is the photographer who impressed me so much some 20 years ago that i started take an interest in photography by the artist of her generation.

One of her most impiortant photographs is one which was taken at a very young age. At the age of 13 she took the photograph below. A selfportrait while turning her head away from the lens.

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Francesca Woodman produced universally commanding and profound images from the age of thirteen. Born into a family of artists, ‘art’ was her first language. She experienced early exposure to a plethora of exemplary creative people along with countless potential historical, literary, and theoretical influences. Woodman worked with traditional photographic techniques but was consistently performative and experimental in her practice. Many of her works are multi-media, including drawings, selected objects, and sculptures within her photographs. Settings may vary from confined interiors to the expansive outdoors, but Woodman herself is always there. Typically the sole subject, and often naked, she can be found caught entwined within a landscape or edging out of the photographic frame. Interested in the limits of representation, the artist’s body is habitually cropped, endlessly concealed, and never wholly captured. Woodman was acutely aware of the evanescent nature of life and of living close to death. She positions the self as too limitless to be contained, and thus reveals singular identity as an elusive and fragmentary notion.

wwwoodman francescaw.ftn-books.com has the very rare PHOTOGRAPHIES book for sale.

 

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H.P Berlage and Henry van de Velde

2 architects joined forces in the beginning of the 20th century to realize the museum and hunting cabin for the family Kroller-Muller. In 1939 the museum building it self was finally finished , but more important, in the decades preceding the realisation of the museum. Mrs Kroller Muller had collected together with the aid of H.P. Bremmer a marvelous collection of contemporary art. Her choice in art was exquisite. Van Gogh, Signac, Seurat, Rijsselberghe, Redon and Marini ao were would prove to be key elements within the collection of the Kroller Muller. But for those who have visisted the museum and its surroundings there are other elements on the grounds which will be remembered. How about one of the best sculpture gardens in the world and the Jachthuis Sint Hubertus near ( designed by Berlage ) and ofcourse the beautiful and modernistic museum itslef designed by Henry van de Velde. www.ftn-books.com has a nice italian publication available which is dedicated to these designs.

rassegna kroller

 

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World Fairs from 1851-1992

 

Schermafbeelding 2019-04-23 om 13.59.45An important publication. published within the series of Grafisch Nederland and designed by Gracia Lebbink. A quintessential 150 years with some great inventions ( telephone, TV, Radio and Nylon) and a developing art scene which made the transition into constructivist and abstract art.  The book not only has a beautiful design by Gracia Lebbink , but it is great fun to look at the history of these World Fair’s. What struck me is that the architecture is truly innovative, but only a few buildings were kept. Of course the Eiffel tower is one of them and it has grown into a landmark for Paris and France, but when you look at some of the other great architecture realized, it is a pity that so few of the buildings remain.The book is available at www.ftn-books.com

wereldtentoonstellingen

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Ton Mars (1950)

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I looked for Ton Mars information and found this. It . is in dutch but for my dutch readers it is an absolute must:

Mijn hoofd is in de wereld 
& 
de wereld is in mijn hoofd

In de wereld
noem ik continenten en sferen,
duid ik windstreken en sterren,
ken ik landen en volken,
tel ik woorden en talen,
zie ik contrasten en overeenkomsten,
ervaar ik kleuren en vormen,
duizel ik in veelvoud en verscheidenheid,
kan ik blijven en reizen.

In het hoofd
orden ik veelvoud en verscheidenheid,
maak ik contrasten en overeenkomsten,
ontwikkel ik continenten en sferen,
speel ik met richting en ritme,
droom ik landen en volken,
vind ik woorden en taal,
kan ik blijven en reizen.

In het werk
kies ik
voor verf en linnen
voor potlood en papier
voor lijn en kleur,
voor vlak en volume,
voor licht en schaduw,
voor deel en onderdeel,

refereer ik
aan boek en teken,
aan code en regel,
aan woord en getal,
aan systeem en verbeelding,

verbind ik
getal en plek,
kennis en spel,
complexiteit en helderheid,
eenvoud en mysterie
zwaarte en lichtheid,
feit en fictie.

Met het werk
eigen ik me de wereld toe,
leef ik mijn droom,
ben ik 
dag en nacht.

www.ftn-books.com has some Ton Mars publications available

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