Inspired by our todays visit to the Caldic collection of Joop van Caldenborgh in Wassenaar and because of my fondness for sculpture , the next 10 blogs will be devoted to Artist and sculptures. van Caldenborgh has been collecting great sculptures for more than 30 years now and collected a world famous collection which is on show on application on his estate in Wassenaar. One of the artist to be found there is Yaacov Aagam. An artist from Israel who has been known in the Netherlands for over 40 years now because of his show in the Stedelijk Museum ( catalogue available at www.ftn-books.com). His sculpture on the lawn of the Caldenborgh estate is particularly impressive because when you see it it appears to move because of its construction . A kinetic sculpture that does not move itself, but moves because of the movement of the spectator.
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Piet Dirkx cigarbox 282
Rineke Dijkstra (1959)
If there is one photographer who has become famous in the last 2 decades it is Rineke Dijkstra. She started as a freelance photographer for magazines like Avenue and Quote, but became famous with her series if you men and women on the beaches of the US, Poland, Belgium and Croatia. This series has become iconic in the world of photography and the star of Rineke Dijkstra has risen ever since. The series shows in artificial light young adolescent boys and girls on the shore. These photographs have are typical Dijkstra “signature” and can be recognized immediately. The strength in these photographs of young people and also the series of bullfighters and soldiers, is that they show the emotion of the portrayed. Large sized in many cases make these not the standard photograph for at home, but you can seen many of her works depicted in the books on Dijkstra of which some are available at www.ftn-books.com
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Piet Dirkx cigarbox 281
Damien Hirst (1965)… “Treasures” in Venice
Question….who is Damien Hirst…a serious artist or a vulpine charlatan. In my opinion he is both. When Hirst started his career, his approach to art was highly original, finding an art form in which he commented on society and the world around him. In the past 2 decades his art was a hype and he made a tremendous amount of money creating and selling art to please his admirers and collectors. This is the moment I gladly forget Damien Hirst as a serious artist, but now there is his new show, The first in almost 10 years.
in Venice in the Palazzo Grassi / http://www.palazzograssi.it and i must say, it fascinates. Perhaps it is a little overdone and because of the scale too much, but this world he creates is totally artificial but includes the icons Hirst loves so much and fascinates from beginning to end. Disney figures combined with Kate Moss can de recognized in many objects, making this the Pop Art show of 2017.
A world created by Hirst as if it is real discovery , but totally artificial and in no way to be kept together as one art object, because i am convinced that after the show in Venice all object will be sold to collectors for very serious money. For a much smaller amount you can find some Damien Hirst publications at www.ftn-books.com 😉
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Box 279 is missing therefore we continue with cigarbox 280
Piet Dirkx cigarbox 280
Andy Warhol in Stockholm (1968)
The sixties were the time that Pop Art was introduced in Europe and one of the venues where a large exhibition was held was the Moderna Museet in Stockholm. Of course the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam has had its Pop Art and Warhol exhibitions in those days, but what makes the Stockholm exhibition stand out, was the catalogue which was published with the Andy Warhol exhibition in 1968. Not a small booklet , designed by Wim Crouwel of 40+ pages, but a large catalogue containing approx. 500 pages filled with art and photography. . A true documentary publication with the most important works by Warhol and over 300 photographs with documentary photographs on Warhol and his circle of friends. the Factory photography was done by Billy Name. Spontaneous and random photography, giving great insight in the world of Warhol and his Friends in the surroundings of the Factory. This is one of the most important Andy Warhol catalogues ever published and now available at www.ftn-books.com
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Piet Dirkx cigarbox 278
Emmett Williams (1925-2007) , Fluxus poet and master of Concrete Poetry
A little anecdote….the first time i saw the publications of Emmett Williams was in the early eighties in the Gemeentemuseum. It was a very nice publication, but at that time i did not see the qualities of his works and publications. When a few years later too many of the edition was unsold , we decided to put them in a “sale” for 2 guilders each. Even at that price they were very hard to sell and now 30 years later… I was offered a small collection of Emmett Williams books and bought them back at 30x the price of 2 guilders, a price well worth the books ,because these are very special books. The VOYAGE is published in only 1000 copies and works like a classic “flip book”. These books are absolute “must have’s” for serious collectors. They are becoming more rare every year and as an artist Emmett Williams will become one of the most important artists from the Fluxus mouvement.
These books are available at www. ftn-books.com
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Piet Dirkx cigarbox 277