Piet Dirkx cigarbox 356
Willem Sandberg (1897-1984) typography
It is almost a year since I tipped the readers of my blog to start to collect Willem Sandberg typography. Since, i have found some interesting examples of his excellent typography which i want to present to you. For those of you who are new in reading this blog. Willem Sandberg was a designer /typographer who became director of the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam for a very long period ( 1945-1963) who designed many of the publications during this period of time and who contacted and presented many of the most famous 20th century artists in the Stedelijk Museum. His publications are characterized by the use of plain ( carton like papers) and the lettering looks random, made out of torn papers. But these are very accurate designs. You can find many sources of information on Sandberg on the internet, but one of the best is still the site of the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam. ( www.stedelijk.nl ). Now here are some new and old additions to the inventory of www.ftn-books.com
Piet Dirkx daily …355
Piet Dirkx cigarbox 355
Among Photographers…. Fieret, Nollen, Dijkstra, Breukel ao, isbn 9789086900817
Ask me …what is the best publication on dutch photographers from the last generations. The answer must be AMONG PHOTOGRAPHERS . Published by Veenman in 2007, this book contains the very very best in dutch photography. The cover is striking with the portrait of Fieret by Koos Breukel. Almost a surreal approach to a portrait but so recognizable as being a Breukel portrait of the famous Gerard Petrus Fieret. This is a rare occasion that i can offer this book at www.ftn-books.com . This and other tiltes on the dutch photography are available at www.ftn-books.com
Piet Dirkx daily …354
Piet Dirkx cigarbox 354
An extremely rare Gemeentemuseum catalogue from 1940
Possibly you know that i have been a bookseller for the Gemeentemuseum Den Haag for nearly 25 years. But this catalogue was totally new to me.
It is the catalogue for the exhibition on still lives and flowers which was held in the Gemeentemuseum during the first months of WWII. ( exactly the months the war broke out) I do not remember ever have seen this, so i was surprised and amazed to have found such a rare catalogue of which the majority must have been destroyed or became lost during the chaotic first months of the war. The catalogue is not particularly beautiful, but is has a nice woodblock print by W.J. Rozendaal on the cover. Of course with a still life of fish and flowers. A rare catalogue and for those of you who collect the Gemeentemuseum catalogues a rare opportunity to complete your collection with this rare catalogue
Piet Dirkx daily …353
Piet Dirkx cigarbox 353
Giorgio di Chirico (1888-1978)… surrealist?
Di Chirico was the founder the scuola metafisica art movement, which profoundly influenced the surrealists. But was he a surrealist or more a classic baroque painter who by chance composed his compositions in surreal surroundings and there fore looked like a surreal painter. Any way he was considered by many surrealists to be an example for them and for sure one can see influences of di Chirico in the early paintings by Dali. Empty land and cityscapes with an occasional figure in them.
Di Chiricos pictures are different and most famous for the eerie mood and strange artificiality of the cityscapes he painted in the 1910s. Their great achievement lies in the fact that he treats the scenes not as conventional cityscapes – as perspectives on places full of movement and everyday incident – but rather as the kinds of haunted streets we might encounter in dreams. They are backdrops for pregnant symbols or even, at times, for collections of objects that resemble still lifes. De Chirico’s innovative approach to these pictures – an approach rather like that of a theatrical set designer – has encouraged critics to describe them as “dream writings.” They are, in other words, disordered collections of symbols. And this points to their difference from the so-called “dream images” of later Surrealists such as Salvador Dalí, which appear to want to capture the contents of a dream with a camera. www.ftn-books.com
Piet Dirkx daily …352
Piet Dirkx cigarbox 352
Polish art and typography
While leafing through my documents, I noticed some very nice and interesting publications from and on Polish art and typography. These are a combination of Russian and western art and typography, making them stand out and being typical for Poland. It is the same with Japanese typography.
A style of typography of its own , but with influences from western typography and design. But back to Poland. This very unique way of design was recognized by Willem Sandberg, who organized an exhibition on Polish posters. Whenever i visit a book) market i always pick them up , because of their appearance and some are worth collecting and selling. Take a look at www.ftn-books.com
to find some of these very nice publications.
