A Stedelijk Museum publication from 1938. Publishing date well before WWII and extremely rare. One of the first publications containing an article by Piet Mondriaan ( Mondrian) and it is more than likely the only one on the market at this moment. What makes this publication valuable is not only its rarity , but also the art historical value of the articles by Mondriaan, Kandinsky and Gorin. You can find this publication at www.ftn-books.com.
here is its description and the photographs:
Johannes Itten. Not many know him, but through the years he has been acknowledged as being one of the teachers who developed the most important “color theory” in art.
Johannes Itten (11 November 1888 – 25 March 1967) was a Swiss expressionist painter, designer, teacher, writer and theorist associated with the Bauhaus (Staatliches Bauhaus) school. Together with German-American painter Lyonel Feininger and German sculptor Gerhard Marcks, under the direction of German architect Walter Gropius, Itten was part of the core of the Weimar Bauhaus.
But for me there is more about Itten. In 1957 the Stedelijk Museum devoted an exhibition to Itten. The catalogue of the exhibition was designed by Willem Sandberg , who made it one of the most iconic Stedelijk Museum catalogues from the 50’s. This catalogue is still available at www.ftn-books.com. But there si more on Itten and the Stedelijk Museum to be told, because Itten also designed one of the velums ( ceiling coverings) for the Stedelijk. It is rarely on show, but there is a nice publication on the project also available at www.ftn-books.com
Just reread my blog on Ruf and had to change it a little bit because last week it was announced that Beatrix Ruf resigned as director of the Stedelijk Museum
A few weeks ago the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam announced the completion of its entrance area together with the final adjustment in its presentation of its collection.
The new plan reflects Beatrix Ruf’s vision for the Stedelijk: clearer layout of the building, more works from the collection on view, more stories and topical perspectives, new entrance area to open 22 September.
Stedelijk Base, the new collection presentation of the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, opens on Saturday 16 December. It is one of the largest installation of the Stedelijk collections in its history, and will remain on view for at least five years. The presentation of the art works is organized in a circuit designed by OMA, the architecture practice founded by Rem Koolhaas. Stedelijk Base will present art and design from the late 19th century up to the present day. The display is a great way for people who are new to art to discover how modern art and design evolved, and allows seasoned art-lovers to experience the Stedelijk’s world-famous icons in a new context.
Stedelijk Base is the final element to manifest the vision of director Beatrix Ruf for the Stedelijk, in which the building is divided into three zones:
www.ftn-books.com has some nice titles available on Rem Koolhaas.
The followers of this blog know of my admiration for Lawrence Weiner. I am always keen and interested in publications by or on Weiner nad therefore i was lucky to acquire to my inventory 2 special editions. The first one, BINNEN HET GEGEVEN VAN REACTIE is from the Seventies and printed on a thick carton like paper and published by the van Abbemuseum. The second is an exhibition poster from 1989 for the Weiner Exhibition in the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam. Both are in excellent condition and when you use WEINER10 before the end of this month. There is a discount of 10% for these and all other purchases on www.ftn-books.com
Arguably the most iconic Pop Art artist was Roy Lichtenstein. I know for certain that Andy Warhol is a much more household and famous name. But when you ask me , which artist i associate with Pop Art , …..it is definitely Roy Lichtenstein. I love comics and because of that, Lichtenstein was one of the first modern artists i began to follow and appreciate. His works with enlarged comic frames won me over for him and it happened that these frames , enlarged to an immense sized canvas, became the works for which Lichtenstein would become famous. There is one multi panelled work “As I opened Fire” which is in the collection of the Stedelijk Museum which i now must have seen dozens of times and it never stops impressing me.
Lichtenstein name is now one of the great names in Modern Art, but this has not always been the case. It took some years to become one of the greats , because Warhol was in the centre of the modern art world and Lichtenstein just a mere satellite. For me however, Lichtenstein is the artist that never disappoints and is the best Pop Art artist….period.
There are some greate Roy Lichtenstein publications available at www.ftn-books.com
Alex Vermeulen is a dutch multi-media rtist who has had several museum presentations in the Netherlands. In 1993 Vermeulen moved to Amsterdam and founded in 1995 “SOH-States of Humanity” and the Syndicaat foundation. A year later he presented his final film-book, as part of a large installation, Fuga Futuri,[4] at Amsterdam’s Stedelijk Museum (1996). The chief character introduced in this show for the first time, was the stylized humanoid “Eggy”, named after his egg-like shape. In the following fifteen years sculptures of various forms of the enigmatic Eggy would appear in a number of projects mounted in public places around the world including New York (1996) where Vermeulen asked those who passed to select their favorite Eggy and relate it to their personal life.
There is an excellent piece to be foumnd on Wikipedia, but to show something of his qualities as an artist here is the A SMILE FOR A SMILE video
there are some publications by Vermeulen availabel at www.ftn-books.com
Influenced by Marcel Duchamp, Jasper Johns and H.C. Westermann, Ruscha developed an art form for himself. Ruscha achieved recognition for paintings incorporating words and phrases and for his many photographic books, all influenced by the deadpan irreverence of the Pop Art movement. His textual, flat paintings have been linked with both the Pop Art movement and the beat generation, but for me Edward Ruscha is foremost a Pop Art artist. Possibly this is because one of my favorite Stedelijk Museum catalogues from the Seventies is this 1976 Ruscha catalogue which was designed by Wim Crouwel and filled with typical Pop Art related Ruscha paintings.
Text and image blend into each other , catching your attention with a word or a phrase. Ruscha stayed true to this kind of painting and has since become one of the great names in the world of art. Checking my inventory i found that i have many interesting publications available at www.ftn-books.com. An excellent opportunity to find out why Ruscha is important in the world of contemporary art.
Here is an interesting video on Ed Ruscha by the Tate
Personally i think that Jaap van den Ende is the only true successor of Jan Schoonhoven. Specially his early works have the similar qualities as the ones Schoonhoven made in the sixties and early seventies. The Stedelijk Museum has some excellent examples of these early works in which little cut out pieces of grey plastic foil are placed on a white surface according a well though over pattern. the System and pattern make the composition, but thus creating a fascinating , lively work of art.
A little like the way Struycken worked, but with a simplicity that resembles the great early Sol LeWitt works. I love this early works, Later he changed his style into more colorful compositions, but always along a line of well thought over abstract contructivist forms. Since 1997 his works become far more realistic. Seascapes, parks and landscapes are all painted with perfection . a fascinating artist which you can encounter in several dutch museum collections. There are some nice van den Ende publications available at www.ftn-books.com
From 1961 until his death Viktor IV lived in a boathouse at the river Amstel in Amsterdam. Almost like a clochard but not secluded, because during his life he kept a very keen eye on the art scene around him. This resulted in one of the most fascinating oeuvres of any modern artist. Building his works from lost and found material washed ashore wooden panels he developed a sign language which was typical for Viktor IV, including a new way of looking at time with his BULGAR watches. Roughly his artistic life can be divided into 3 parts. The first being the making of his ICONS, the second his sign language the RUNES and thirdly the JOURNAL pages he drew almost daily.
The site of the Viktor IV foundation gives some excellent information on the artist and person Viktor IV was www.viktoriv.nl
There are very few publications on this artist, but www.ftn-books.com has the famous Stedelijk Museum publication available at its internet bookstore.
H.P. Berlage is for me personally the architect of the building i entered for nearly 25 years, worked in and have practically known my entire life. Of course this is the Gemeentemuseum Den Haag. Initially people did not like the building at all and thought it a badly designed ” public swimming pool”, but you must visit this building multiple times before it opens its true qualities to you. It really is of a rare quality and can be considered as the last, but also ultimate designed Berlage building in which the extreme details open up when you look long enough. Berlage known for his architecture was also a very gifted furniture and book designer and brought all these qualities together into his buildings. There is so much to be told on Berlage, but the best one can do is visit the buildings which this architect build. Fortunately the very best examples are to be found in places a random tourist is likely to visit when he or she visits the Netherland.
Amsterdam has the Beurs, Otterlo /Kroller Muller museum has the “jachtslot” and of course Den Haag has the Gemeentemuseum. so for you next visit to Holland visit these and start your visit with a Berlage book for sale at www.ftn-books.com
