Posted on by — Leave a comment

the M.C. Escher vase

schermafbeelding-2017-01-06-om-12-14-53

It must have been 20 years ago that the first of the limited edition M.C. Escher oval vases was published by Cordon Art. Cordon Art are the rightful representatives and copyright holders for all the works by M.C. Escher and they decided to expand this right with several editions. Of course there was the sphere which is in high demand nowadays, but there was also the very first oval vase. The Vase was produced by Schoonhoven ceramics and came with a certificate of authenticity. A limited edition of only 450 copies and all vases signed with a signature of M.C. Escher and hand numbered on the vase itself. A beautiful object and an object worthy of the design of M.C. Escher. The vase sold out quickly and inspired Cordon Art to launch several other ceramic products. Among them a plate , a ceramic box and a newly designed vase. You can imagine that these were sold out within a year or so.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

All the above products were at one time for sale at www.ftn-books.com

The succes of the above products meant the edition of  another vase and this being the last one of the early vases i know of. This vase was bought and sold by me several times and now the end of my inventory is near. I only have 2 vases left of this beautiful “SKY and WATER vase”. A vase from a limited edition of 450 copies, signed with a (printed) signature, hand numbered and with certificate of Authenticity in its original box. Only this weekend the price will still be USD 495,–, after the 9th of February 2017 the vase will be USD 795,–

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Interested? use the code: Vase300    and you will receive the $300.00 discount at www.ftn-books.com. One vase only available at this price.

 

A large increase in price but a necessary one, because i just learned from a colleague he had sold the same vase to the US for USD. 1000,–

Posted on by — Leave a comment

Maurice Estève (1904-2001)

schermafbeelding-2017-01-05-om-10-34-33

It is not always the great artists that appeal to you…In many cases lesser known ones take you by surprise, because of color and composition. Maurice Estève is one of them. Well known in France but hardly known outside of France. During his artistic life he had exhibitions in Many French galeries and even was presented on the Venice Biennale of 1954, but that is about all i can find of foreign exhibitions of this French artist

Starting as an assistant to Robert Delaunay he soon moved away from realism and started to paint in a lyrical abstract way, making his works stand out from his contemporaries. Bonnard, Matisse, Leger and Cezanne were his great examples, but in the end after searching for over 3 decades his lyrical abstract way of painting had become the true Maurice Estève style and he was appreciated for that…..at least in France.

search on Pinterest for Esteve and fortunately there are many examples to be found. An excellent way to meet this artist and see for your self what a great “oeuvre” this artist has.

and do not forget to have a look at the publications currently available at www.ftn-books.com

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA
Posted on by — Leave a comment

Antonio Calderara (1903-1978)

schermafbeelding-2017-01-04-om-09-42-49

Because of a sale today, i was reminded of the very nice Antonio Calderara catalogue published by the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam in 1977. The catalogue was designed by Wim Crouwel and what this one makes really special are the 3 original silkscreen prints within this publication. Thin, only  16 pages but with 3 striking silkscreens i consider this as one of the very best seventies Stedelijk Museum publications. Published with Sm catalogue number 616 the catalogue stands out from the others published in the same period. One of the silkscreens is used as cover ( orange /red) and 2 are within ( yellow and sky blue). The very little text and the beautiful impressive photograph of Calderara complete this exquisite publication. This one and others on Antonio Calderara are available at www.ftn-books.com

 

 

 

Posted on by — Leave a comment

Bernard Buffet and TOXIQUE by Sagan

Why Bernard Buffet in this blog. …an hour ago i was reflecting on my early youth and i remembered we had a reproduction of a Clown by Bernard Buffet hanging on the wall.

schermafbeelding-2017-01-03-om-12-29-12

In the early sixties, Buffet was one of the most famous young artists who was appreciated by the great public. A recognizable style and what is more important…. No abstraction what so ever. A stylized reproduction of reality in portraits, landscapes and still lives and made available for a large audience through reproductions .

This resulted in an overkill of Buffet’s on the market and meant his work was not in fashion for at least 3o years, but now this is changing. Large retrospectives are being held and one now realizes that his works are part of the evolution in Modern Art. One of his very best 60’s artist publications is TOXIQUE , By Francoise Sagan

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA
OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA
OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

 

and available at www.ftn-books.com, but looking through the inventory and reading some of his older catalogues you must admire the very personal style of Bernard Buffet and understand why he is now considered as one of the great artists from the 20th century.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA
OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA
OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA
OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA
Posted on by — Leave a comment

Coco Chanel and Sol LeWitt

An unlikely combination, but…. they have something in common. Recently a new cotton bag with a special design by Sol LeWitt was published by the same publishers as the one who published the Cotton bags with the Chanel exhibition some 2 years ago. Same size and same quality and both cotton bags are available at www.ftn-books.com

I know for certain there are bag collectors and these original museum cotton bags are produced in such small numbers that they are highly collectable and only available for a very short time. So be quick in this first week of January and purchase the bag(s) for your collection.

this blog is daily published on www.ftn-blog.com

Posted on by — Leave a comment

Henri Michaux ( 1899-1984)

schermafbeelding-2017-01-01-om-11-03-57

Henri Michaux had two talents. For me, above all , he was a painter, but others would say he was a poet/writer. Michaux was good with language and because of that it was easy for him to derive from his letters, signs and bend them into a completely different language of art and make an abstract composition with them.

If i had not known a little more about Michaux and of his background as a writer i easily would have categorized him among the ZERO artists. (on the left there is a drawing by Michaux and on the right there is a drawing by Jan Schoonhoven.)

But his “signs” are not made randomly. Some of his most intriguing ones are done under the influence of LSD and Mescaline with which he experimented. Two separate methods in creating great art by 2 artists, resulting in almost the same composition, some 10 years apart from each other ( 1963 and 1974), but both highly intriguing.

The books are all available at www.ftn-books.com

blog is published on www.ftn-blog.com

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA
OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA
OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA
OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA
OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA
Posted on by — Leave a comment

Pierre Alechinsky…. a perfect publication.

 

The end of this year is near and almost 300 blogs have been published since I started blogging on WordPress. www.ftn-blog.com grew in an excellent way and i am looking forward to keep you informed on my inventory and exploits in art.

And what better way to end this year with a PERFECT publication by Pierre Alechinsky. In the sixties Alechinsky used original lithographs as cover for his exhibition publications and one of these is the no. 391 he made for the Stedelijk Museum in 1966 for his graphic exhibition. Photographs by Suzy Embo ( see earlier blog this month) and designed by Wim Crouwel. (available at www.ftn-books.com)

Arguably this is one of the top 5 publications the Stedelijk Museum made in the sixties, but for me this is perfection. Simple clean Crouwel design. the photographs are all excellent and the lithograph printed by Bramsen & Georges makes this one really stand out.

A perfect catalogue to end this year and start the New Year.

My best wishes to all my readers and followers for the New Year 2017.

wilfried

Posted on by — Leave a comment

Luc Tuymans (1958)

schermafbeelding-2016-12-30-om-09-42-07

Luc Tuymans is probably one of the most interesting living artist of our times. Not only his art, but also his views on society are at least as fascinating.

Luc Tuymans (born 1958) is a Belgian contemporary artist, considered one of today’s most influential painters.
Tuymans was born in Mortsel, Belgium. He began to study fine art at the Sint-Lukas instituut in Brussels in 1976, and subsequently also studied art history at Vrije Universiteit in Brussels. He first exhibited in 1985. His first U.S. exhibition was at The Renaissance Society in Chicago in 1995.
Tuymans’ work is figurative and makes extensive use of techniques from photography, television and film, such as cropping, framing, sequencing and (sometimes extreme) close-ups. His palette usually tends toward monochrome. Subjects of his paintings range from the historic, for example covering the Holocaust or colonial politics in Belgian Congo, to the very banal, depicting everyday objects. Some of his paintings represent abstract emotions. For a while he abandoned painting completely to make films. Tuymans lives and works in Antwerp. Recently some of his work has been exhibited in “The Triumph of Painting” exhibition in the Saatchi Gallery in London.
Tuymans is married to a Venezuelan artist, Carla Arocha, recent exhibitions at the Chicago Institute of Art, Monique Meloche Gallery, Chicago and Andre Schlechtriem Gallery, New York.

But these are only the facts about Tuymans, Tuymans is much much more… His work was recently being discussed as being copied from another artist, but was this true or is it the interpretation from this artist of a very familiar photograph?.. He is very strongly opposed against the right wing Vlaams Belang and his leader Bart de Wever and makes this his personal crusade, but he also is a great thinker and influencer, because every discussion he starts makes you think about it. The same with his art. His drawings /paintings and graphic art are accessible and realistic, but in many cases they are not complete and one has to fill in the blanks yourself. For me that is what great art is all about.

Some nice Tuymans publications are available at www.ftn-books.com

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA
OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA
Posted on by — Leave a comment

Rodin at the Groninger Museum

schermafbeelding-2016-10-05-om-09-11-09

August Rodin…. a legend among sculptors and a sculptor who is appreciated by young and old. The Musee Rodin in Paris receives over 700.000 visitors each year and now some great works from their collection are on loan at the Groninger Museum. In total 140 sculptures and 20 works on paper are in the Rodin exhibition, which makes it the largest Rodin exhibition in the Netherlands ever. So this is a great opportunity to visit the Mendini designed museum in the north of the Netherlands and visit the Rodin exhibition ( until the 30th of April 2017).

Groninger Museum, Museumeiland 1
9711 ME Groningen

What makes me look really forward to this exhibition, is the special part by Erwin Olaf. I know the sculptures by Rodin quit well, because i have visited the Musee Rodin and saw his exhibition in the Museum Het Paleis ( 1995) in The Hague multiple times. But these Olaf photographs are a first. Olaf photographed dancers of the National Ballet in typical Rodin poses, creating an atmosphere as if these photographs are taken in the Rodin studio. Spectacular photographs of these talented dancers with bodies like they were sculpted by Rodin himself.

For more information on Rodin look at these available books at www.ftn-books.com and the site of the Groninger Museum….www.groningermuseum.nl

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA
OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA
OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA
OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA
OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA
Posted on by — Leave a comment

Art Dealer Kenny Goss’s Tribute to Ex-Partner George Michael | BLOUIN ARTINFO

schermafbeelding-2016-12-29-om-09-51-03

George Michael was not only an influential figure in the world of pop music, he also had a major impact on the visual arts. In 2007 the late pop icon founded the Goss-Michael Foundation in D

Source: Art Dealer Kenny Goss’s Tribute to Ex-Partner George Michael | BLOUIN ARTINFO

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA
OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA
OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

books available at www.ftn-books.com