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Marc Mendelson (1915-2013)

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Born in the UK, but worked and lived for most of his life in Belgium. He is considered to be part of the Cobra mouvement, but was not a participating member of the mouvement. Many people know his work without knowing that it is by Mendelson, because the mural in Brussel’s subwaystation “Parc” is by his hand. The development of his style and work is something special because he started as a figurative painter, became an abstract one and for the final part of his life he became a figurative painter again. Personally i stumbled upon his works , because at one time i could buy a large book on him in a remainder sale and became fascinated by his abstract works and maybe i can convince you with this blog too of his qualities as a painter and  to read something more about Mendelson after seeing these beautiful abstract paintings.

Books on Mendelson are available at www.ftn-books.com

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Marcel Duchamp (1887-1968) ….L.H.O.O.Q.

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I did not know, but Marcel Duchamp’ s drawn moustache and beard on the Mona Lisa has a title;

L.H.O.O.Q.

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The poster with the drawn moustache and beard was recently sold at auction and i noticed the typical and absurd title Duchamp had given it. You can pronounce it as Look but it can also be the abbreviation of the french words  ” Elle a chaud au cul”…translation she is horny. Humor by Duchamp , who works are filled with this kind of “jokes”. Duchamps titles are available at www.ftn-books.com

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Lynn Chadwick (1914-2003) and Den Haag

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I know the Haags Gemeentemuseum has no sculpture by Lynn Chadwick, but what i did not know  is that there is a sculpture of a sitting couple on the Circusplein by Chadwick and when i read more about Chadwick i noticed that the gallery Nieuwenhuizen Segaar /had an exhibition in 1988 ( catalogue available at www.ftn-books.com) . So during a 40 year period there was a regular contact between the dutch art scene and Lynn Chadwick.

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Chadwick was an English artist known for his innovative bronze and steel sculptures of abstracted and expressive figures and animals. Chadwick’s method is considered unique in his choice not to sketch his sculpture beforehand, preferring instead to improvise and weld metal without a specific plan in place. He was born on November 24, 1914 in the London suburb of Barnes and studied as an apprentice architect under Roger Thomas, who would encourage him towards sculpture. Chadwick’s earliest sculptures were fragile mobiles constructed with balsa wood, copper, and brass, not unlike those of Alexander Calder. In 1950, he had his first major exhibition of his mobiles at Gimpel Fils gallery, which led to significant critical attention. The artist was then chosen to represent Britain at the 1956 Venice Biennale and was awarded its International Sculpture Prize, becoming its then-youngest recipient. He debuted his first steel sculpture, Two Winged Figures, for an outdoor show in 1962, and his works from this period are noted from their combination of abstract detail and natural forms. He was named a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1964 and a Commandeur des Arts et des Lettres in 1993. He died on April 25, 2003 in Gloucestershire, England.

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I love the works by Victor Pasmore (1908-1998)

 

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Victor Pasmore (1908 – 1998) was born in Chelsham, Surrey, the son of a well-known physician and mental specialist and an amateur painter. He was educated at Harrow School where he first became seriously interested in painting. Following the sudden death of his father he had to abandon his studies at the Central School of Arts and Crafts where he had studied under A. S. Hartrick, an artist who had worked in France and who knew van Gogh. Pasmore, who had expected to go Oxford and then on to The Slade School of Art, now had to find employment as a clerk in the Public Health Department in London instead, a job he held until 1937.

During this time he joined the London Artists’ Association and had his first solo exhibition at their Cooling Galleries on Bond Street in 1933. In 1937 Pasmore left the Public Health Department and formed an independent art school with fellow artists Claude Rogers, Graham Bell and William Coldstream in Fitzroy Street. The school’s first show in 1938 coincided with its move to 316 Euston Road which led to the art critic Raymond Mortimer to identify them as the Euston Road Group. Pasmore himself moved to a studio at 8 Fitzroy Street, formerly occupied by Sickert and Whistler, and spent his time teaching and painting.

Pasmore abandoned visual representation and developed a purely abstract style in 1947. His work, often in collage and construction of reliefs, pioneered the use of new materials and was sometimes on a large architectural scale. He held his first abstract solo exhibition at the Redfern Gallery, London, in 1948. Herbert Read, an important art critic of the time, described Pasmore’s new style as ‘The most revolutionary event in post-war British art’. In the summer of 1950 he visited St Ives where he became associated with Ben Nicholson and Barbara Hepworth and joined the Penwyth Society, the local exhibiting group. www.ftn-books.com has some nice Pasmore titles available.

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Joost Swarte and Fay Lovsky ….Jopo in Mono

 

Artist/ Author: Joost Swarte / Fay Lovsky Title : Jopo in Mono Publisher: Oog & Blik / de Harmonie, 1991 Number of pages: booklet contains 16 pages /audio cd by Fay Lovsky contains 12 numbers Text / Language: Measurements: 5.4x 4.9 inches Condition: mint / still sealed extra information on this item: Rare and collectible. Here is a text from a blog on this publication which i found: When putting two completely unique artists out of two different disciplines together in one room, the chance that it might lead to something brilliant is equal to the chance that it won’t work. For these two it turned out to be option one: brilliant. Joost Swarte and Fay Lovsky are the ones we’re talking about. These two (both made in Holland) made their album ‘Jopo In Mono’ back in 1991. It’s based on the story of Joost Swarte’s underground comic-character ‘Jopo de Pojo’, a musically anti-hero, highly underestimated in his own opinion (even the alleycats don’t dig his shit) but always pretty positive in his own misery. Jopo de Pojo leads a life of failure, fun, sex and pretty bad rock and roll. Nevertheless Jopo is a character to love. I bought my first Joost Swarte album somewhere around 1988, it was a collection comics about Jopo and I fell in love with him (Jopo) and his creator’s style immediately. More albums and (signed) silk-screens by Swarte followed and off-course this beautifully designed CD ‘Jopo In Mono’ had to be in my collection too. Nowadays Swarte enjoys an international reputation as a graphic artist as well as a designer on whatever his fancy takes away: creating posters, cartoons, glass windows and stamps, or designing watches, buildings or bookcases. The woman that made the music and wrote the lyrics to make Jopo come alive on CD is Fay Lovsky (born Fay Luyendijk). She is what you could call a ‘do-it-yourself’-artist. Always trying to make music with somewhat exotic instruments such as the theremin, ’singing’ saws or the noseflute (there is a ‘Duet For Noses’ on this Jopo-album!). In the mid-eighties she gained some fame with her music projects ‘La Bande Dessinée’ and with her bigband ‘Magnificent Seven’. But most (Dutch) people probably know her best because of her x-mas evergreen from 1981 ‘Christmas Was A Friend Of Mine‘. Lovsky is very inventive as well with music as with words. She’s responsible for probably one of the shortest and humourous bluessongs ever, ‘Yawn Blues‘ with brilliant lyrics: I woke up this morning, I went back to bed. The one you hear doing Jopo’s yawning is Joost Swarte. Another peak on this album is the song that even made it as the openingstune of a culinair show on French national TV: ‘Appellation Controlée‘ (part of the lyrics: Brown paper bag, au bord de la Seine, Ile de la Cité. Chateau Migraine, when you wake up the next day.). On the album followed by a disturbingly short ‘Appellation Non Controlee’ including hiccups and a watersplash. Did I already mention that Joost Swarte won a prize for the design of this booklet? Well, he did.

 

Jopo in Mono and the ROUSERS album are both available at www.ftn-books.com

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Nat Finkelstein (1933-2009)..The Warhol/Factory photographer

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His claim to fame was that Nat Finkelstein was the house photographer of the FACTORY. The complex which housed the studios of Andy Warhol.

(The Factory was Andy Warhol’s New York City studio, which had three different locations between 1962 and 1984. The original Factory was on the fifth floor at 231 East 47th Street, in Midtown Manhattan. The rent was one hundred dollars per year.[1] Warhol left in 1967 when the building was scheduled to be torn down to make way for an apartment building. He then relocated his studio to the sixth floor of the Decker Building at 33 Union Square West near the corner of East 16th Street, where he was shot in 1968 by Valerie Solanas. The Factory was revamped and remained there until 1973. It moved to 860 Broadway at the north end of Union Square. Although this space was much larger, not much filmmaking took place there. In 1984 Warhol moved his remaining ventures, no longer including filming, to 22 East 33rd Street, a conventional office building)

In September 1962 Finkelstein was commissioned by Pageant magazine to do an article on the emerging Pop Art movement. The article was titled “What happens at a Happening?” it covered a Claes Oldenburg “happening” in Greenwich Village and was a break that would define his future. Two years later, while attending a party at the Factory, Finkelstein met Warhol, who had seen his photographs of Oldenburg’s “happening” in Pageant. Finkelstein offered his services as a photographer to the artist, and for the next three years he was a constant presence at the Factory. His iconic images of the include subjects such as the Velvet Underground performing live, Marcel Duchamp, Bob Dylan, Edie Sedgwick, Salvador Dalí, and Allen Ginsberg.

There are some nice Finkelstein and Warhol publications available at www.ftn-books.com

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Jean Lurçat et “La Creation du Monde” ( 1949)

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Jean Lurcat, is not forgotten by those who are interested in the art of the 40’s and 50’s from last century. A contemporary and ground breaking artist who’s works can be considered among the best that french art has produces in those decades.  When i have to describe his art it would be something in between a Picasso and Matisse style, but totally Lurcat and original. Sandberg recognized his importance and made an exhibition with his works in 1959 in the Stedelijk Museum.

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My interest was awakened last year , because i had the opportunity to buy possibly the most important book published with Lurcat lithographs. Published in an edition of only 99 copies, signed by the artist and numbered in print ( This is no. 20). The book LA CREATION DU MONDE, was published by Les Exemplaires with a story by Andre de Richaud and contains in total 56 original lithographs by Jean Lurcat. The book was printed by Mourlot/ Paris who was the leading printer for original lithographs in those days . Because of their qualities they were commissioned by the Galerie Maeght for their art publications too. The book is one of the highlights in my inventory and would grace many art book collection, but as always pictures tell a better story than words. Therefore i give you an impression of this magnificent publication which is now for sale together with the Sandberg designed catalogue at www.ftn-books.com

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Keith Haring (1958-1990)… a special bookmark

 

Schermafbeelding 2017-10-22 om 10.28.13The year 1987, location Channel Surf Club in Knokke Belgium

Quote from the Keith Haring Journals, Penguin 1997, page 221

” I began mural and immediately attract a crowd. By the time i finish, to applause, there are 50-60 people watching. The sun is really hot and i wear sunblock and a hat. The audience is incredible ”

haring bookmark a

This container mural was put of for sale in last auction season and found in the after sale an appreciative buyer. But to attract more visitors for the auction a bookmark/invite  was published of this exceptional piece of art and it is available at www.ftn-books.com.

Below you will find the text as published in the auction catalogue and it is well worth reading.

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Charlotte Salomon (1917-1943)….Leben oder Theater

 

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An important blog on an important subject. The Joods Historisch Museum in Amsterdam shows the complete set of “LEBEN ODER THEATER” the magnificent works by Charlotte Salomon . It is the equivalent of a written diary of her life in Auschwitz before she was murdered. The complete original set is now on show at the Joods Historisch Museum until the 25th of March 2018, but…. not only the complete set is on show, there is another way of viewing the set…..for those who are interested and live to far away you can view the complete set at :

https://charlotte.jck.nl/section

This is what makes the internet worthwhile, so visit this site and convince yourself why this is not only a historical important work, but also a great work of art by a gifted artist.

www.ftn-books.com has the very rare first dutch publication on Charlotte Salomon availablel at www.ftn-books.com

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Black Friday – Ko Verzuu Besteldienst

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Yes….Black Friday and you would expect a nice offer from www.ftn-books.com

Well there is one…. it is a very nice offer for collectors, admirers and people searching for a nice collectible as Christmas present. It is the originally Ko Verzuu designed ( de STIJL artist) Besteldienst which was one of the prestige replica projects by the ADO factory who has made ADO products for over 70 years. The factory does not exist anymore , but these Prestige editions are among the highest sought after collectable toys in the world. This prestige Besteldienst is one of the last projects ADO has done before it closed its doors. Hand built -and painted, all numbered on the base and car and each model comes with its certificate in its original ADO box. Limited edition of 250 , numbered.

It is a large model , measuring  53 x 19 x 25 cm. Condition Mint in Box.

You can find the Besteldienst over here: original price USD 245.00

https://ftn-books.com/products/ado-stijl-ko-verzuu-besteldienst-42-cm-wooden-toy-ltd-ed-250

If you order and checkout use the discount: BFverzuu

and the price will be reduced to USD 150.00

Only valid for 3 days during the Black Friday weekend and only 5 available. Have a nice weekend.

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