Ask me …what is the best publication on dutch photographers from the last generations. The answer must be AMONG PHOTOGRAPHERS . Published by Veenman in 2007, this book contains the very very best in dutch photography. The cover is striking with the portrait of Fieret by Koos Breukel. Almost a surreal approach to a portrait but so recognizable as being a Breukel portrait of the famous Gerard Petrus Fieret. This is a rare occasion that i can offer this book at www.ftn-books.com . This and other tiltes on the dutch photography are available at www.ftn-books.com
Piet Dirkx daily …354
Piet Dirkx cigarbox 354
An extremely rare Gemeentemuseum catalogue from 1940
Possibly you know that i have been a bookseller for the Gemeentemuseum Den Haag for nearly 25 years. But this catalogue was totally new to me.
It is the catalogue for the exhibition on still lives and flowers which was held in the Gemeentemuseum during the first months of WWII. ( exactly the months the war broke out) I do not remember ever have seen this, so i was surprised and amazed to have found such a rare catalogue of which the majority must have been destroyed or became lost during the chaotic first months of the war. The catalogue is not particularly beautiful, but is has a nice woodblock print by W.J. Rozendaal on the cover. Of course with a still life of fish and flowers. A rare catalogue and for those of you who collect the Gemeentemuseum catalogues a rare opportunity to complete your collection with this rare catalogue
Piet Dirkx daily …353
Piet Dirkx cigarbox 353
Giorgio di Chirico (1888-1978)… surrealist?
Di Chirico was the founder the scuola metafisica art movement, which profoundly influenced the surrealists. But was he a surrealist or more a classic baroque painter who by chance composed his compositions in surreal surroundings and there fore looked like a surreal painter. Any way he was considered by many surrealists to be an example for them and for sure one can see influences of di Chirico in the early paintings by Dali. Empty land and cityscapes with an occasional figure in them.
Di Chiricos pictures are different and most famous for the eerie mood and strange artificiality of the cityscapes he painted in the 1910s. Their great achievement lies in the fact that he treats the scenes not as conventional cityscapes – as perspectives on places full of movement and everyday incident – but rather as the kinds of haunted streets we might encounter in dreams. They are backdrops for pregnant symbols or even, at times, for collections of objects that resemble still lifes. De Chirico’s innovative approach to these pictures – an approach rather like that of a theatrical set designer – has encouraged critics to describe them as “dream writings.” They are, in other words, disordered collections of symbols. And this points to their difference from the so-called “dream images” of later Surrealists such as Salvador Dalí, which appear to want to capture the contents of a dream with a camera. www.ftn-books.com
Piet Dirkx daily …352
Piet Dirkx cigarbox 352
Polish art and typography
While leafing through my documents, I noticed some very nice and interesting publications from and on Polish art and typography. These are a combination of Russian and western art and typography, making them stand out and being typical for Poland. It is the same with Japanese typography.
A style of typography of its own , but with influences from western typography and design. But back to Poland. This very unique way of design was recognized by Willem Sandberg, who organized an exhibition on Polish posters. Whenever i visit a book) market i always pick them up , because of their appearance and some are worth collecting and selling. Take a look at www.ftn-books.com
to find some of these very nice publications.
Piet Dirkx daily …351
Piet Dirkx cigarbox 351
Willem De Kooning(1904-1997) is a dutchman
For many people in the US , Willem de Kooning is an American painter , however ….for us dutch, de Kooning is a dutchman. Born in Rotterdam and educated at the Rotterdam evening academy and working for the METZ department store as an interior decorator until he decided to go to the US in 1926. He went as a stowaway and would become the abstract expressionist painter we admire. He met artists from and became part of the Abstract expressionist mouvement. Meeting with Pollock, Still, Rothko and Newman made him aware of his qualities as an abstract painter developing a style of his own and building an important oeuvre from there on. He never lost touch with his homecountry the Netherlands and this resulted in a large and very important collection of De Kooning paintings in the Stedelijk Museum. Edy de Wilde was the director who made this happen and it is the luck of the visitors of the Stedelijk that in one spot they can discover and admire so many excellent De Kooning paintings.
and for some nice publications on De Kooning visit www.ftn-books.com
Piet Dirkx daily …350
Piet Dirkx cigarbox 350