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Parade , 1952 by Charles and Ray Eames

A few weeks ago my American friend David, wrote in a Facebook post that he truly enjoyed the classic PARADE movie by Charles and Ray Eames. Although i am a great fan of the Eames couple. I never had heard of these stop motion/animated movies and immediately opened the link . Ok…. it is not the greatest of stop motion movies that ihave seen, but it is charming and one can see that the Eames couple is trying to find a way to make this work. Music is typical for the US,  a de Sousa march is backing up the movements of the figures, making this PARADE a highly enjoyable short movie”

Parade was filmed by Charles and Ray in 1952. It is a live-action pageant of mechanical toys, animals, puppets, cars, lead soldiers, and dolls–all set into motion, with colorful toy buildings and photographic and painted images of city streets used as backdrops. Hugh De Pree, the former CEO of @hermanmiller, recalls spending the night at the Eames Office, helping Charles, Ray, and Billy Wilder, wind up toys for the film until 3 AM.

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Hugh Weiss (1927-2007)

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The first time i encountered some actual painting by Hugh Weiss, was at the timne the Venduhuis held an auction with works from the estate of Hans Sonnenberg, the former owner of the Delta Gallery in Rotterdam. Sonnenberg had a very personal way of collecting and was not affraid to present young artists like Haring and Basquiat in the Eighties and Schjolte and van Geest in the Eighties/Nineties. In the Sixties he liked a different kind of art and beside some POP ART he presenetd there was this American born artist who he liked very much…..Hugh Weiss

Hugh Weiss was born in Philidelphia in 1925, but practically lived his entire working life in Paris /France. Here he has made a name for himself and from France  a contact with Sonnenberg was established, The result exhibitions at galerie Delta of which one catalogue is available at www.ftn-books.com. It is the 1965 catalogue

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The works intrigue, but not so musch as that at timne of the auction i wanted to add one to my collection. I focussed instead on the Arie van Geest paintings and i was successful. Now that i look at them again in the catalogue i think it is a pity that i did not bid, but wh knows perhaps in the future there is another chance.

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Marijke van der Wijst (1940)

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Marijke van der Wijst is a true force in the dutch design world and responsible for many of the great dutch interior designs of public cultural places. There is of course the interior of the Anne Frank huis and the Berlage wedding room,

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but for me, van der Wijs most important project was her influence tof the way the Boymans van Beuningen Museum reshaped its presentations in the Eighties. More spacious, clean coll colours and almost transparent. This way of presenting the great collection of the Boymans van Beuningen was followed by many in the years after they had made the changes in resenting the collection. This is part of the great book on van der Wijst published by 010 Publishers and designed by the very best for this subject…Gracia Lebbink. A beautiful publication, timeless and filled with great van der Wijst designs. Available at www.ftn-books.com

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LIVINUS (van de Bundt) (1909-1979)

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Experimental photo painting and one of the first video artists in the world , Livinus made a name for himself in the mid Seventies with this kind of art and the Haags Gemeentemuseum was one of the first to show this kind of art by a dutch artist in the Netherlands.

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There is a reality that is “more real that what is visible”, in which thinking can only use the abstract formulas of physical science. In contemporary art this reality can be experienced with new methods. The light experiments of Van de Bundt have a special place in this; his light manipulations, (projections or so-called photo paintings) are non-material and provide a picture of a pure energetic world.

Since he received several prestigious art prizes of which the Sikkens price is the most renowned one. www.ftn-books.com has some nice LIVINUS publications available including one with some original film.

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Ad de Keijzer (1923-1997)

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Ad De Keijzer was a creative visual artist. Ad De Keijzer was born in 1923. Also born in 1923 and of this same generation are John Balmain, Guy Fouquet, Paul Jenkins, José Maria Ascunce, and Nicole Fonlladosa.

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Born in 1923, Ad De Keijzer grew up during the 1950s and was inspired by the artistic atmosphere of the time. Abstract Expressionism prevailed in the 1950s as a chief method of painting, and explored ideas concerning the sublime and spirituality. Artists endeavoured to focus on painting’s formal properties, and Action Painting took inspiration from the political freedoms of the United States, in opposition to the limitations of the Soviet bloc. Significant artists of this period included Jackson Pollock, Willem de Kooning, Mark Rothko, Frank Kline, Barnett Newman, Clyfford Still and Adolph Gottlieb. In later revisions, the contributions and efforts of female artists such as Lee Krasner, Joan Mitchell, and Louise Bourgeois have been celebrated, amongst many other female creatives.

www.ftn-books.com has one Ad de Keijzer available.

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Johan Niegeman (1902-1977)

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Most people do not know that dutch architects Mart Stam and Johan Niegeman actually taught at the Bauhaus institute. Even Piet Zwart taught at the Bauhaus, but he must be the absolute champion in the shortest of periods he taught over there….only 3 weeks.

Still Niegman taught almost 2 years at the Bauhaus and was influenced by the Bauhaus in such a way that the projects fro the rest of his career were very much influenced by the BAUHAUS principles and the projects his fellow architects realized over there. The “architectuur Museum” recognized the importance of Niegeman and published a wonderful publication on NIegeman. A true Wim Crouwel designed book which is still up to date and one of the only publications on Niegeman. Available at www.ftn-books.com

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Władysław Strzemiński (1893-1952)

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I had almost forgotten this great artist until recently I discovered a great monograph on him at the local bookmarket (sold). Just quickly leafing through it i noticed the resemblance with some of the greatest Piet Zwart designs and even, after searching on the internet  I discovered his influence in some recent Japanese designs. His art is truly avant-garde. When you look at Minimal Art from the Sixties and Seventies and the hard edge paintings from the Sixties you can only draw one conclusion. All the great artists from these decades must have known, Władysław Strzemiński and drawn inspiration from his art.

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An excellent biography on the artist can be found here:

https://culture.pl/en/artist/wladyslaw-strzeminski

Władysław Strzemiński (Belarusian: Уладыслаў Страмінскі; 21 November 1893, Minsk – 26 December 1952, Łódź) was a Polish avant-garde painter of international renown.

In 1920 he married Katarzyna Kobro.

In 1922 he moved to Wilno (now Vilnius), and in the following year supported Vytautas Kairiūkštis in creating the first avant-garde art exhibition in what is now the territory of Lithuania (then under Polish rule).

In November 1923 he moved to Warsaw, where with Henryk Berlewi he founded the constructivist group Blok.

During the 1920s he formulated his theory of Unism (Unizm in Polish). His Unistic paintings inspired the unistic musical compositions of the Polish composer Zygmunt Krauze. He is an author of a revolutionary book titled “The theory of vision.” He was co creator of unique avant-garde art collection in Łódź gathered thanks to the enthusiasm of members of the “a.r.” group as Katarzyna Kobro, Henryk Stażewski (the artists) and Julian Przyboś and Jan Brzękowski (the poets).

In postwar Łódź he was an instructor at the Higher School of Plastic Arts and Design .Neoplastic Room in Muzeum Sztuki in Łódź. where one of his students was Halina Ołomucki, survivor of the Nazi concentration camps. His Neoplastic Room was installed in the Muzeum Sztuki in Łódź in 1948 but was removed in 1950 as it failed to fit in with the socialist realism aesthetic imposed by Włodzimierz Sokorski, the minister of culture of the Polish United Workers’ Party.

His works have been exhibited in such museums around the world as Centre Pompidou, Museo Reina Sofia Moderna Museet Malmö and Whitechapel Gallery

The following Strzeminski publications are available at www.ftn-books.com

 

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Ernest Utermark (1967)

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A blog on an artist who deserves a larger platform of admirers in the Netherlands and beyond. I have known Ernest since he first entered the Gemeentemuseum Den Haag, but to be honest i had forgotten about him since i stopped coming daily to the museum, but every time i entered the museum through the corridor i was reminded of him because of his” cut out birds” that prevented the birds flying against the glass windows.

Last december i visited Ap Gewald at the museum and i saw Ernest in the corner of my eye and we greeted each other. A few days later I started to rearrange some books and found this wonderful book by Ernest which i once bought at the museumshop. In this book you can find a “collectors alphabet” by Ernest Utermark.  I loved the book when i bought it and after nine years it is still a delight to leaf through. Is it available at www.ftn-books.com?…. i am sorry it is NOT but i can strongly recommend it and urge you to start looking for this delightful publication from 2010.

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Jet Nijkamp…Verdrongen Landschap

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The reason to write this blog is the book i recently purchased by Jet Nijkamp. Filled with nature drawings of wood, trunks and landscapes and enhanced with text by Tsead Bruinja. Thsi titel “Verdrongen Landschap” was published in a small edition and is now available at www.ftn-books.com.

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An excellent title with drawings by Nijkamp , which remind me of the early drawings by Frank van Hemert influenced by Anselm Kiefer. but……visiting her site i noticed that she had published a complete series of Donald Trump dressed in Womans Clothing. A “funny” series of pastel drawings on international newspapers. It is not funny only , but it shows some criticism towards Donald Trump and his presidency. Trump takes poses like the great states man he think he is, however…..the drawings make fun of him and puts his presidency into perspective. The best one is the Obama meeting. Obama is the statesman and Trump the one with a dress on. I can not vote for any US president , but i wish i could and i  would not have any doubt who to vote for.

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Philip Akkerman (1957)

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A daily blog on “dutch” contemporary art is not complete without a blog dedicated to Philip Akkerman. From his earliest days he started as an artist he portrayed himself and consequently only made self portraits ever after. Whether these were done in oil, drawing, gouache, watercolor or any other material. His works had only one subject… his own “face”. … Interesting is to see that a good portrait by Akkerman reflects his personality, his mood and how he grows from a young man into a middle aged and now a somewhat older men,.

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A face full of character makes these series of portraits one of the only series in modern art totally devoted to the personality of the artist who makes it.

A great series of hundreds of his self-portraits can be found over here:

https://philipakkerman.com/paintings

www.ftn-books.com has some very nice Akkerman publications available: