One of the dutch pioneers in dutch video and film art is certainly Frans Zwartjes. He is known for his experimental form of movie making. Somewhat psychedelic and always with a different camera point of view. Let his art speak for himself and look at SPECTATOR from 1970
https://youtu.be/64ARnFi3DuQ
There is a nice book available at www.ftn-books.com which was published on the occasion of Zwartjes receiving the Ouborg price.
Piet Dirkx cigarbox 268
The importance of Lipchitz can not be underestimated, because he was was probably the first who worked out cubism in 3D. His cubist sculptures are highly recognizable and because the artist has a strong following in the Netherlands, where he had in the late 50’s some Stedelijk MUseum presentations curated by Willem Sandberg, his works can be found in most of the large museums in the Netherlands. Paris is where he studied and found soul mates .
It was there, in the artistic communities of Montmartre and Montparnasse, that he joined a group of artists that included Juan Gris and Pablo Picasso as well as where his friend, Amedeo Modigliani, painted Jacques and Berthe Lipchitz.
Living in this environment, Lipchitz soon began to create Cubist sculpture. In 1912 he exhibited at the Salon de la Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts and the Salon d’Automne with his first solo show held at Léonce Rosenberg‘s Galerie L’Effort Moderne in Paris in 1920. With artistic innovation at its height, in the 1920s he experimented with abstract forms he called transparent sculptures. Later he developed a more dynamic style, which he applied with telling effect to bronze compositions of figures and animals.
For more publications on cubism and Lipschitz please visit www. ftn-books.com
Piet Dirkx cigarbox 267 ( the only metalbox in the collection)
Yesterday i stumbled upon a short note included in one of the catalogues that i have in my collection that the former owner wanted to see the exhibition La GRANDE PARADE in the Stedelijk Museum. I remembered visiting that exhibition and now almost 3 decades ago i realized that this was one of the first blockbuster exhibitions held in the Stedelijk . A great overview of Modern Art from the 20th century curated by Edy de Wilde who showed his special qualities as a collector with this exhibition and said goodbye to this collection as the director of the SM . It has probably the nicest Leger ever made in it and….Willem de Kooning….many many Willem de Kooning paintings ,who is still one of the key artists within te collection of the Stedelijk. Leafing through the catalogue one can only be amazed that so many great art was once in one place. There are not many of these exhibitions any more, because these are far too expensive to organize , but if there is one….go stand in line for a couple of hours and remember in 30 years the exhibition you visited. If it is as good as LE GRANDE PARADE it was well worth the wait. For the catalogues please visit www.ftn-books.com
Piet Dirkx cigarbox 266
The importance of Muybridge is not the artistic way he made his photographs, but because he recognized that he could catalogue motion and movement by placing photographs in sequence. This find was important because in detail one could study all movements. From athletes to birds….everything was photographed ,recorded and placed in sequence, making this in the 19th century the reference guide for all movement. The quality of his studies and photographs is shown in this excellent animation
Conclusion must be that not only serious art lovers, but also directors and animators are tributary to Eadward Muybridge.
And of course www.ftn-books.com has some nice books available on the subject.
Piet Dirkx cigarbox 265
Too many great artists died in the last year and now Stanley Brouwn is among them. I just learned that last Tuesday Stanley Brouwn died in Amsterdam. Born in Paramaribo, he was one of the first from the Surinam origin artists who rose to fame with his conceptual art, measurements and distance were the keys to his projects. The art itself was not always understood, but the publications which appeared with the performances are still belonging to the best artists books that were published in the last 5 decades. Fortunately www.ftn-books.com has some publications available in its inventory. Stanley Brouwn was a very special artists and his works prove that he must be remembered as one of the great Conceptual artists that lived.
Piet Dirkx cigarbox 264
