Piet Dirkx cigarbox 585
Then I ducked my Head and the lights went out, and two guns blazed in the Dark……
This brilliant title is given by William N. Copley to a painting he made in 1966. Copley must be one of the wittiest artists.
He had no trouble at all in finding or coming up with original titles. ( a little like Piet Dirkx/ follow the Piet Dirkx daily at this blog). I love Copley and artists who can come up with original and fun titles for their works. Compare the above and for example” Mount Venus and the Hula-Hula Graces in the Glade” to titles like composition I and composition II. This does not mean that “composition” is a worse painting, but when there is a story in a title it says something about the artist himself. Looking for some more great titles for paintings? visit www.ftn-books.com for other Copley publications.
( and search within my blog to find another blog on Copley)
Piet Dirkx daily …584
Piet Dirkx cigarbox 584
Cesar Domela (1900-1992) a member of de STIJL
Cesar Domela an abstract constuctivist who has deservedly created himself among the best of DE STIJL artists. He was a friend of Piet Mondriaan and Theo van Doesburg, but after a few years of DE STIJL compositions he developed a stijl of his own. Wall reliefs were his specialty with curls and filled in colorful spaces these compositions became highly recognizable as Domela’s. During my time at the Gemeentemuseum i never witnessed the special Domela exhibitions , but know that the publications published with these exhibits are thought to be the best on Domela and his works. In meantime other publications have appeared, but these Gemeentemuseum publications still are the best.
www.ftn-books.com has a nice selection of Domela publications including a signed print in an edition of 150 cps.
Here is part of the biography the Gemeentemuseum publishes on its site:
www.gemeentemuseum.nl
When he died in 1992, Dutch artist César Domela left behind an oeuvre that was as substantial as it was varied. Part of it passed into the possession of his daughters, Lie Tugayé-Domela Nieuwenhuis and Anne Dutter-Domela Nieuwenhuis. They are now donating thirteen of the relevant works to the Gemeentemuseum Den Haag. The gift forms an important addition to the museum’s existing Domela collection, expanding it to provide a complete overview of the work of this multifaceted artist. From 24 November, the public will have its first chance to view this exceptionally important donation, which comprises paintings, reliefs and one sculpture, as part of a major retrospective devoted to Domela.
César Domela was born in 1900 as the youngest son of the well-known Dutch socialist politician Ferdinand Domela Nieuwenhuis. At an early age, he moved to Italy, where he rubbed shoulders with a number of avant-garde artists. Soon after that, he met Mondrian, Van Doesburg and other members of the De Stijl group, of which he himself became the youngest member in 1924. However, Domela’s artistic development took a different direction from that of most of his fellow-members. He devoted himself increasingly to the development of reliefs: three-dimensional paintings, in which he ascribed a major role to the diagonal. He also experimented with photomontages for use in the world of commercial advertising. His work was well received and in 1936 it was included in the Cubism and Abstract Art exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art in New York.
After the Second World War, the reliefs came to dominate his output. In 1960 the Gemeentemuseum Den Haag purchased work by him and held a retrospective. Twenty years later, this was followed a second major retrospective of his work. Today, the museum possesses an extensive collection, focusing until the present donation principally on the photomontages and advertising material. This special relationship between the Gemeentemuseum Den Haag and César Domela is one reason why his daughters have decided to donate thirteen of their father’s works to the institution; another is the fact that the works form an excellent complement to the museum’s wider holdings. The Gemeentemuseum Den Haag is extremely proud to have been offered this gift and delighted that the Domela collection, which is so valuable a part of its core holdings, will now provide a complete overview of the artist’s entire career. The gift coincides with the official opening at the Netherlands Institute for Art History (RKD) of the César Domela archive, bequeathed and donated to the Dutch State and given into the safekeeping of that institution.
Eva Hesse (1936-1970)
A sad short life with deportation, a mother committing suicide and ending after only 34 years with a fatal brain tumor. This is in short the life of Eva Hesse, but during the only 10 years she was active as an artist she left the world some beautiful and imaginative works of art.
Not just one portrait above this blog , but a series because i found so many beautiful pictures of her surrounded by her works that it appears as if she is part of the work itself. It is now nearly 50 years that she died, but there is a strong demand for her works now and it shows in my inventory at www.ftn-books.com, because after having a handful publications on the shelf, there is only one publication left.
Philip Guston (1913-1980)
I once read a story of a collector who had sold over half of his collection to finally buy his ideal “dream” painting. It was a painting by Philip Guston. I knew some of his works because i had some books in my inventory of www.ftn-books.com, including the Sandberg designed stedelijk
Stedelijk Museum catalogue, but could not understand why one wants to trade in half of a collection, collected over decades, for a Philip Guston.
I finally had a chance to see some of these painting a few years ago and i must say i was impressed by them. Personally i would not sell half of my collection, but these works have a strange appeal. A little like the Dubuffet paintings. They are ugly but bold and they represent another world. A world which can only exist in the artist mind.
Bettina Rheims ( 1952 ) and Morceaux Choisis
It is possible that i like the photography of Bettina Rheims so much because we are from the same generation. The french hotel rooms that are a little worn are familiar to me too and these are in many cases the backgrounds of the models that Bettina Rheims uses in her photography. Whenever i find a book or special publication by Rheims , i buy it. The MORCEAUX CHOISIS title that is available at www.ftn-books.com was found in Bilbao at a local bookstore when we visited it together with the Guggenheims. Still packed and in pristine condition . another title published a few years ago was found in Paris and the last one i added ” BONKERS” in Rotterdam. The collection of Rheims publications will be expanding in the years to come , but has now grown into quite a few titles.
Bert Frijns (1953)
If ever there is one “glass” artist who deservees to be called original in his approach to the medium of glass, it is Bert Frijns. The first time i saw some of his glass vases presented in the Haags Gemeentemuseum in the inner garden, they were soon filled with rain water, make them appear even more fragile. But the water did not harm them, no it enhanced the capture of light, making the glass vase like a solid sculpture. The form , also highly original and it stayed one of the trademark forms of Frijns. Frijns had multiple museum and gallery exhibitions in the Netherlands, but the first one which i saw by this artist stayed with me forever.
Great works of art and with the exhibition one of the first Gracia Lebbink designed exhibition catalogues for the Gemeentemuseum which is finally available through www.ftn-books.com. The short biography comes from www.acquestarte.com
Born in 1953 in Ubach Worms, The Netherlands. From 1973 until 1980 he studied at the Gerrit Rietveld Academy in Amsterdam and, after graduation, he attended specialist courses at the Department of sculpture and glass.
Since 1991, Bert Frijns lives with his family on a farm on an island of Zeeland, the southwestern province of the Netherlands. Surrounded by the North Sea and living in contact with nature, the artist is daily inspired by the landscape of the area.
Glass, water, light and movement are the main ingredients of the works of Bert Frijns. With minimalist simplicity and a strong sense of poetry, the artist has worked with these elements for almost three decades. The interaction of sculpture, light and space surrounding are common features in all his works.
Frijns also adopts an extremely complex and specific method of working the glass. Although his finished works seem simple, they are actually the result of a lengthy and difficult technic. His works are distinguished by their sheer beauty, stripped of frills or decorations. Since the glass sculptures are also filled with water, it creates an additional visual element.To date, Frijns has exhibited his works in many museums and galleries around the world: in the Netherlands, Germany, United States, Indonesia, Japan, Switzerland, Belgium, Sweden, England, Israel and Australia.
Some of his creations are part of collections of some well-known museums: the Museum Jan van der Togt, the Jewish Historical Museum, the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam, the Museum of Modern Art in Arnhem, the Frans Hals Museum, the Haags Gemeentemuseum, the Landesmuseum in Kassel, the Ernsting Stiftung and the Jewish Historical Museum in New York.
Cas Oorthuys….continued
6 months ago i published a blog on Cas Oorthuys, but since i discovered some more titles in which Oorthuys contributed to the photography. The most important one? ROTTERDAM…Dynamische stad. 100% filled with great Oorthuys photography. Dated 1959. You can see a city , resurrecting after the WWII bombardment which removed the heart of this great city in the Netherlands. The photographs are all printed full page or spread over 2 pages . Size is almost folio like with 12 x 10.9 inches, linnen bound with gold /relief printing on the cover makes this one of the more important Photography books in my collection. It is availabel at www.ftn-books.com
Ben Vautier…Le Magasin de Ben
Another discovery… This poster is rare. It was published in 1993 by editions Cicatrices and according to my knowledge the only print on this great work by Ben Vautier. The work was recently restored because age had deteriorated it too much to exhibited it without damaging the work.
But the poster was made in the early nineties for the Musee National d’Art Moderne and because of its size it shows the true quality of the work by Ben. A feast and an excellent way to represent the work in 2D. It is available at www.ftn-books.com
