Within each decade there is always one or there are even multiple time slots that are important to art in genera. As for painting, the mid eighties from the 19th century is important because of the start of impressionism in art. The late Fifties from last century showed the start of abstract expressinionism in the US , followed in the Sixties by Pop ART and for the dutch there are the first four years of the Eighties. Here comes the art of some of the greatest dutch artist to bloom. Rene Daniels, Jan Dibbets, Ben Akkerman, Ger van Elk and the grand old master Bram van Velde found their way and art into galeries , private collections and museums. There even was a time that these 5 master of dutch Modern Art had a group exhibition at the MUSEU DE ARTE MODERNA DO RIO DE JANEIRO. It was 1984 and the museum presented these dutch modern artist together in one great group show. An important one , because now we know that these five dutch artists belong to the most important ones in the Netherlands from last century. The catalogue is now available at www.ftn-books.com
Because i like the photograph…it is Bram van Velde who represents these 5 artists for this blog
No difference in name of the exhibition. Just a different spelling. One is for the 1961 Stedelijk Museum and the other for the 19761 Recklinghausen exhibition. Both are designed by Willem Sandberg, almost identical covers and the use of different sorts of paper is equal too. …….But there is a difference. The German catalogue contains 208 pages and the dutch only 140 pages. I am still wondering if the complete exhibition was at the Stedelijk Museum or that the Recklinghaus exhibition was much more complete. I prefer the german one and i wish i could have seen this one. It is such a great exhibition and must be counted as one of the greatest exhibitions from the second half of last century.
It must have been in 1979. Because at that time i started to take an interest in more serious abstract art and one of the first galleries i visited was a local one. The ARTLINE gallery represented some nice artists. Among them Tomas Rajlich of whom i first saw some great paintings and an american artist….Larry Poons. I liked his vertical rectangular shaped canvasses. It was clear to me that part of the composition was by coincidence. From top to bottom he “painted with acrylic. Great abstract expressionist art and i believe the ARtline gallery was later continued as Seasons galery . The Seasons gallery presented aroudn 2000 a series of paintings by Eric de Nie.
left Poons / right de Nie
The paintings/vertical drip paintings were in technique similar to the ones i had seen twenty years earlier, but with a much lighter touch and more precise. The video shows the process of painting. The result great paintings that stand on their own.
De Nie has a very personal method to compose his paintings. At first he chooses three to five, sometimes even six, colors of (diluted) paint that he drips on the canvas one by one. He arranges a pattern of stripes by an almost mathematical system, ‘out of an agreement with myself’ as he calls it. After using all of the colors the sharp lines get faded out with half-wet pencils in different sizes, causing the colors to blend and resulting in a richer pallet of colors. For the second and following layers the artist uses the same colors again, this time liberated from the earlier restriction of the system as De Nie reacts to the consequences of his previous actions in a more coincidental way. The process results in a universe of layers, that seduces the spectator to wander around in the painting endlessly.
The artist developed this method in the last fifteen years. Growing unto more refinement at first to subsequently (partly) throw that overboard by wiping the lines away, the style of De Nie evolved over the years. Nevertheless his paintings show a very characteristic manner. The motives of vibrant lines are hard to see through and make you wonder if they are either randomly arranged or organized according to an ingenious pattern. A mystery that is caused by the combination of the tightness of the systematic starting point, the dynamic appearance of the partly faded stripes and the more reactive way of painting in the later phase.
A major inspiration to De Nie is music, especially experimental jazz and composed contemporary music. In the past some of the titles of his work referred to pieces of music by his favorite composers, such as Giacinto Scelsi, Morton Feldman and György Ligeti. Also in performances, in which he painted while listening to music, the reference is clear. In this kind of music De Nie ‘hears a feeling’ that suits his way of painting. The aspect of increasing and fading is strongly present in his recent paintings, as the concentration of lines expands or the colors are more bright at one point and less dense or intense in the next area. Opposite to the work he made before 2005, which showed a more all-over way of painting with less accents, his latest work shows more range in rhythm and emphasis, providing an experience of space and time to the spectator. De Nie himself likes to certify his work as lyrical: ‘By that I mean the reminding of a lyrical feeling by looking at my work. My paintings are pieces of music in color.’
www.ftn-books.com has some Eric de Nie titles available.
Almost a year ago i published my first blog on Hildo Krop, who’s work you can encounter all over the streets and bridges of Amsterdam. You can read it here:
I recently discovered that he also made some special covers for the “Kroniek van Kunst en Kultuur” which was published in the late Forties from last century. The woodcuts he made for the cover of this magazine have all a very strong appealing composition. Dark and much influenced by his German counterparts these covers are wonderful prints. The best is of course that these were taken from the original woodblocks and therefore true original woodblock prints by Hildo krop.
this “Kroniek van Kunst en Kultuur” is now available at www.ftn-books.com
One of the only sculptors from Belgium who has made a name for himself during the second half of last century. Of course for me the best during those years is Walter Leblanc, but although his work is completely different the sculptures by Vermeersch rate for me personally almost as high as the ones by Leblanc and he certainly is one of the best from Belgium of the lastFifty years. The title of the book that is now for sale at www.ftn-books.com is BEELDBOUWER and reflects the way Vermeersch “builds” his sculptures, which are constructed from different kinds of ceramic parts.
The individual parts are controlled and shaped until they enter the oven at 1200 Celsius. After that the fire shapes the surface and makes the “skin” of the ceramics dustier, sandy more experimental. With some sculpturen “props” are added like hair, sticks and beads., but always the shape and structure in the end is a typical Vermeersch sculpture.
A few years ago i wrote a blog on the work of art i was able to buy , but did not. The story is as follows. At that time the Gemeentemuseum was printing its publications with the very best printers in the Netherlands. Among them was of course Lecturis and my contact with Lecturis was the late Jan Jongepier. Jan , knowing my interest in art , offered me at one time a series of original works of art. All were for sale through Lecturis. Lecturis had at one time accepted works of art as (partial) payment for the publications they were printing for the artists. These publications were made outside the official editions for the dutch museums or accepted as part of the financing of the editions. They build a nice collection this way, but did not know what to do with it, hence the offer, which was made to me. In retrospect i can tell that these prices were outright cheap, but at that time i could not finance any of the works offered.
Still i always remember Jan and his art collection from Lecturis. Specially now that i have added the Rückriem catalogue which must have been the origin of the Ruckriem work in the Lecturis collection. It is now available at www.ftn-books.com
This is arguably one of the best Willem Sandberg publications of all time. An impressive cover, the use of multiple kinds of paper, the best art works from the Paris Modern Art Museum and an unbeatable price, because these are still available, but become more rare every year. I managed to collect 4 copies of this excellent 1952 catalogue of which 2 are now for sale at a special price of USD 35.00.
Please inquire at wvdelshout@ziggo.nl for a direct sale at this price.
A recent auction of famous movie poster by Sotheby’s inspired me to have another look at the 70’s Crouwel designed catalogue which was made for the Cuban poster exhibition at the Stedelijk Museum. In 1971 the Stedelijk Museum had the foresight of organizing a Cuban poster exhibition. They recognized the outstanding quality of these posters. Political images were presented in colorful and powerful posters, but the auction shows a different side of these Cuban posters. Their interpretation of famous classic western movies. The Cuban designs were “classic” films with a twist. These posters were used to advertise famous titles in Cuba. Their strong designs and vibrant colours recall Havana in its heyday. The Cuban poster catalogue from 1971 is available at www.ftn-books.com
Artist/ Author: Oliver Boberg
Title : Memorial
Publisher: Oliver Boberg
Measurements: Frame measures 51 x 42 cm. original C print is 35 x 25 cm.
Condition: mint
signed by Oliver Boberg in pen and numbered 14/20 from an edition of 20
