painting – Page 17

Posted on 17 March 201712 February 2018 by ftnbooks — Leave a comment

Lucio Fontana (1899-1968)

Schermafbeelding 2017-03-17 om 12.12.33

For me , he is one of the greatest from Last century. Lucio Fontana has had a long career in art and joined several groups, before he became part of the ZERO mouvement.

After ZERO he stayed true to his new found form of art in which monochrome paintings were slashed with a sharp Stanley knife or manipulated with his fingers,thus altering the surface with other materials and objects. Glass was one of his favorites to use. Fontana did not become very old, but in his art career of over 40 years he was one of the front runners in Modern Art. Willem Sandberg admired him very much and because of the importance of Zero and this admiration for Fontana, Fontana received his first Amsterdam monographic exhibition in the Stedelijk Museum in 1967. Catalogue design by Wim Crouwel makes this the perfect combination for a great publication. Sandberg/Crouwel and Fontana combined in one publication is hard to beat. Since 1967 , Fontana featured in many group exhibitions on Zero and had solo exhibitions all over the world. Art collectors must pay huge sums of money to acquire a Fontana ( if ever there is one for sale/ there was one at Dorotheum and Sothebys last year, they made specials on youtube on these paintings)

and Museums that have one in their collection are lucky, because his paintings are nowadays “hors catagorie”. What can be had at reasonable prices? Of course some great publication at www.ftn-books.com and whenever you find a MUSEUMJOURNAAL with the special Fontana cover, do not hesitate and ….BUY IT!!!.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Posted on 28 February 201712 February 2018 by ftnbooks — Leave a comment

Toon Verhoef (1946)

I have always admired the works by Toon Verhoef. The first time i met Verhoef was when i was introduced to him when he visited the Gemeentemuseum on the occasion of the preparation of an exhibition. Since i have tried to obtain a work by Verhoef for our collection, but never succeeded…… i came close when i bid on an extremely large work which came from the former collection of the Artesia bank. It was sold at AAG and when i researched the work i found out that the composition was not random, but an abstract representation of the british queen Elizabeth II parading before Aboriginal warriors.

Verhoef is for me a fascinating artist and his compositions are timeless and brilliant.

there is a nice documentary on Youtube where Verhoef explains the history of the painting and the “Elizabeth” picture.

and for a nice selection of Verhoef titles visit www.ftn-books.com

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Posted on 27 February 201712 February 2018 by ftnbooks — Leave a comment

Anselm Kiefer (1945)

Anselm Kiefer

It is 31 years ago that i saw a work by Kiefer for the first time I and was really impressed . I remember the occasion….the occasion the Anselm Kiefer exhibition at the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam. Grey, sombre , large paintings with scenes that reminded of war, devastation and ruins . Later i learned that the German history and the Holocaust were main themes Kiefer always used in his works. The history of Germany being one of the main subjects in his extremely large paintings. The Stedelijk Museum bought one of the paintings for its collection. “Innenraum” is a large painting ( 280 x 311 cm.) , but small compared to other Kiefer works.

schermafbeelding-2017-02-26-om-10-55-55

The exhibition was a great succes and since i encountered several other Kiefers in museums. One stands out, impressive and it’s size is overwhelming. ( almost 10 meters in length) and is a must see whenever you visit the North of Spain.

schermafbeelding-2017-02-26-om-11-02-45

Anselm Kiefer

Only with Wind, Time, and Sound (Nur mit Wind, mit Zeit und mit Klang), 1997

Acrylic and emulsion on canvas

473 x 944 x 22 cm

Guggenheim Bilbao Museoa

( the following text comes from the Art Story site)

It is the Anselm Kiefer’s monumental, often confrontational canvases were groundbreaking at a time when painting was considered all but dead as a medium. The artist is most known for his subject matter dealing with German history and myth, particularly as it relates to the Holocaust. These works forced his contemporaries to deal with Germany’s past in an era when acknowledgment of Nazism was taboo. Kiefer incorporates heavy impasto and uncommon materials into his pieces, such as lead, glass shards, dried flowers, and strands of hay, many of which reference various aspects of history and myth, German and otherwise. Influenced by his contemporaries Joseph Beuys and Georg Baselitz, as well as by postwar tendencies in Abstract Expressionism and Conceptual art, Kiefer is considered part of the Neo-Expressionist movement, which diverged from Minimalism and abstraction to develop new representational and symbolic languages.

Of course there are some nice publications available at www.ftn-books.com including the Anselm Kiefer / Stedelijk Museum catalogue from 1986

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Posted on 8 February 201712 February 2018 by ftnbooks — 1 Comment

Icônes de l’Art Moderne. La Collection Chtchoukine

And there we were at the Fondation Louis Vuitton for the Chtchoukine collection…..

img_20170204_122241_pano

Linda, David , Monica and myself were looking forward to visit this exhibition. What could we expect? Great Picasso’s, the best Matisse paintings, iconic Monet’s. and all in one exhibition …to see this must be a fantastic experience. Some of them i had seen before, like the Gauguin’s in the Beyeler and some even 100 times or more ,because these were in the Gemeentemuseum exhibition in 1996″ FROM MONET TO MATISSE”.

The bowl with gold fish by Matisse is such a painting, but it were the lesser known paintings that impressed me most. There was this magnificent small Rousseau in which one could see the early days of industrialization. Airplane and balloon prominently present in the painting. Furthermore there was this Maurice Denis with the subdued pastel colors. Looking like the dejeuner sur l’Herbe but in the Denis way and a beautiful, very impressive Picasso of 3 Nude Women. But the best was at the end . The part where you could see Chtchoukine had a very good eye for the modern, because the Rodtchenko’s and Malevitch’s were the works in which you could see the transition into Modern Art.

Here above are my favorites from this exhibition and of course there are many books to be found on these painters in the inventory of www.ftn-books.com

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Posted on 18 January 201712 February 2018 by ftnbooks — Leave a comment

Matisse…..La Dance (1933)

On the location of the Museum of Modern Art in Paris, there is a basement and within that basement is one of the best kept art secrets of Paris. Open for the public, no ticket needed,……just walk down the stairs and see one of most breath taking paintings by Matisse ever.

schermafbeelding-2017-01-11-om-14-08-01 — Matisse La Dance

The 3 works form together one large mural/painting in which elements of the Dance are depicted. Size approx. 25 x 5 meters.

No crowds, because people forget to visit this space with the Palais de Chaillot, but it is very well worth visiting and i can predict you will be in the neighbourhood, because when you visit Paris and want to have the best view on the Eiffel tower, you will stand opposite it at the Palais de Chaillot, walk another 200 meters to the left and you are standing before the LA DANCE, at least as impressive as the Eiffel tower you came for.

title: La danse

year : 1933

adresse: Palais de Chaillot, 1 Place du Trocadéro et du 11 Novembre, Paris

+: Installé dans le Palais de Chaillot en 1977

Matisse

Posted on 28 August 201612 February 2018 by ftnbooks — Leave a comment

Bridget Riley…the Curve paintings

An exhibition with these intriguing paintings by Bridget Riley is now held at the Gemeentemuseum Den Haag. Large size canvasses with hypnotizing waves of color patterns. Riley is one of those artists you learn to appreciate when you see more of her works over a longer period of time. Started in the early sixties . Influenced by Vasarely she soon became one of the most important members of the op-art mouvement and had her first major overseas exhibition in the MOMA in New York in 1965. She was one of the artist of the RESPONSIVE EYE exhibition. Since, she developed her very recognizable style and moved more and more away from the typical op-art paintings and developed the Bridget Riley style as we know it now. The Gemeentemuseum Den Haag has a history with Riley. A few year ago they held a very nice exhibition for which they published a leperello which is still available at www.ftn-books.com

wilfried

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Posted on 23 August 201612 February 2018 by ftnbooks — Leave a comment

Massimo Rao

rao3

Just a simple title for a blog on a painter who had a very short career, but build a strong following of admirers. It was 2008 that i visited New York and entered the CFM gallery and spoke the owner Neil Zukerman about our art collections. I learned that he had bought the very first Rao i had owned and had traded it in for the much larger IL MARINAIO CHE AVEVA ALL ‘UOVO E OLIO.

The one i originally had in my collection, was still one of the favorite paintings of Mr. Zukerman, but the encounter of this passionate collector and the story on this small Massimo Rao painting i once owned, made the world look so very small. If he still has it….i do not know….., but in the meantime the painting in our collection is depicted in 3 Massimo Rao books and was on show at the Panorama Museum in 2004.

Since it has been quiet around Rao, no special exhibitions….. but a growing following and a special site on the painter who unfortunately died much too young ( 1950-1996), but left us so many great works of art. http://www.massimorao.it/massimo-rao/

The books i have on Rao are growing more popular each year and it looks like most are exported to the US. So my guess is the important collectors are in the US and not in Europe.

Maybe it is an idea to organize a large retrospective in the US?

wilfried

www.ftn-books.com