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Constant (1920-2005)

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Another Cobra artist that i have met personally ( but only for a very brief conversation about his catalogues) was Constant ( Nieuwenhuijs ). From the 3 Cobra artist that i have met personally i liked him the best, because besides his Cobra period , he developed himself into a multi talented artist. His New Babylon constructions have proven to be a vision on the future and become more and more important in art history. Even his watercolors that he made at the end of his career are to be admired. Great technique and composition make these belonging to his best works from his career. Constant has always kept a special relation with the Gemeentemuseum Den Haag and because of this special relation with the museum and his former director ( Hans Locher) the museum has the most important collection from all periods out of his career. Cobra, New Babylon , paintings and drawings all are present and will prove to be important in the coming centuries.

http://www.arttube.nl/videos/constant-new-babylon

Constant will probably be one of the most important dutch artists to remember and admire for his complete oeuvre.www.ftn-books.com has some nice classic and collectable publications on Constant ( Nieuwenhuijs).

and yes….www.ftn-books.com is one of the few booksellers who can offer you the famous Constant New Babylon book by Wigley

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Piet Dirkx daily …357

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Piet Dirkx cigarbox 357

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Eric Fischl (1948) Provocative Neo-Impressionism

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Provocative? Maybe for the US , but for us Europeans this is far less provocative and controversial than for US citizens.  The first time i encountered work by Fischl was when i read about him in one of The Parkett magazines in the eighties. I could see the provocation within the scenes of the paintings and because of the subjects one makes up complete stories on the scenes depicted within these paintings. These scenes trigger your imagination and because of that imagination these are powerful paintings.

Realism in a very personal and highly recognizable style,  a symbiosis of Hopper and Rockwell, resulting in a Fischl painting. For me Fischl is the artistic contemporary son of Edward Hopper and Norman Rockwell, who depicts in a provocative way every day life of the Americans. www.ftn-books.com has one title on Fischl available at the moment

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Piet Dirkx daily …356

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Piet Dirkx cigarbox 356

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Willem Sandberg (1897-1984) typography

It is almost a year since I tipped the readers of my blog to start to collect Willem Sandberg typography. Since, i have found some interesting examples of his excellent typography which i want to present to you. For those of you who are new in reading this blog. Willem Sandberg was a designer /typographer who became director of the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam for a very long period ( 1945-1963) who designed many of the publications during this period of time and who contacted and presented many of the most famous 20th century artists in the Stedelijk Museum. His publications are characterized by the use of plain ( carton like papers) and the lettering looks random, made out of torn papers. But these are very accurate designs. You can find many sources of information on Sandberg on the internet, but one of the best is still the site of the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam. ( www.stedelijk.nl ). Now here are some new and old additions to the inventory of www.ftn-books.com

 

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Piet Dirkx daily …355

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Piet Dirkx cigarbox 355

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Among Photographers…. Fieret, Nollen, Dijkstra, Breukel ao, isbn 9789086900817

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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

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Piet Dirkx daily …354

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Piet Dirkx cigarbox 354

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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.

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https://ftn-books.com/products/gemeentemuseum-s-gravenhage-stillevens-en-bloemen-van-30-schilders-van-heden-1940

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

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Piet Dirkx daily …353

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Piet Dirkx cigarbox 353