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Rene Daniels (1950)

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His first exhibition was in Dusseldorf in 1977, but he nver joined the NEUE WILDEN . A group of painters who were in vogue in those days. He felt himself more comfortable when compared with painters like Broodthaers and Picabia, who had an extra layer in their paintings.

His paintings look abstract, but when you study them in more detail you see that they are a complete abstract reproduction of reality. . Piccadilly/London, WTC New York and old houses in Gent can all be distinguished when you look long enough at the paintings.

The paintings look simple, but in reality they are very thought over and are complex and typical Daniels.

Rene Daniels has not had a long career …in 1987 he had a stroke and because of that had to finish his career at that moment as a painter. Since 2006 he paints again , but his style and approach to painting has changed, because of his motor skills are far less than before. But what he made in that very short period of nearly 10 years is of the highest quality and the museums that have work by Daniels should feel lucky to have it in their collections. You can find work(s) by Daniels in the collections of a.o. the van Abbemuseum, Gemeentemuseum Den Haag, Stedelijk Museum, Dordrechts Museum, Groninger Museum and Bonnefanten Museum

and of course www.ftn-books.com has some nice titles on the artist

( and search on the site to find more Rene Daniels contributions to group exhibitions in which he participated)

 

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Alfa Romeo… is it art or design?

When Rudi Fuchs made it director for the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, one of the first acts was to fund his exhibitions with promotional activities by commercial industries. One of the first that got a chance to show his new products within the museum was Alfa Romeo who showed their new models Alfa Romeo GTV and the Cabrio version.

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Sketches , clay models and the end product . Every aspect of the creation of these models was shown. Special poster and some leaflets with the exhibition made this a true museum exhibition , but was this the right place for such an event….personally i do not think so.

alfa sm a

Although a car can be a “piece of art” it does not belong in an art museum , but certainly can be presented in a car museum. But still it must have been good for the museum funding, because since many other commercial activities have taken place , but none as outspoken as the one for ALFA ROMEO.

Because of my personal interest in cars www.ftn-books.com has some publications on the subject.

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Charlotte Schleiffert (1967)

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For me Charlotte Schleiffert has the same qualities as Jean-Michel Basquiat. She creates a world of Hybrid creatures, part human an part animal, dressed in strange fashion and executed in a very large size. She paints, draws and makes sculptures and with these elements she creates installations. The result …… a typical Schleiffert world made by Charlotte Schleiffert and unique in the world of art. Charlotte Schleiffert is represented by galerie Akinci . / http://www.akinci.nl/schleiffert.html

www.ftn-books.com has 2 titles on Schleiffert available

Within the series of Hollandse Meesters there is a 15 minutes documentary on Charlotte Schleiffert available:

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James Lee Byars (1932-1997) sculptor and performance artist

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James Lee Byars was both. An excellent sculptor and a performance artist in the US, much like Joseph Beuys was in Germany. They knew eachother very well and became friends in the late Seventies, resulting in a fascination correspondence between them of which part was published.

Obsessed by the idea of perfection, Byars produced a remarkable body of work that strove to give form to his search for beauty and truth. Pursuing what he called “the first totally interrogative philosophy,” he made and proposed art at scales ranging from the vastness of outer space to the microscopic level of subatomic particles, in an attempt to delineate the limits of our knowledge while enacting a desire for something more.

Here is the performance of THE PERFECT LOVE LETTER in Stockholm.

Byars was one of a kind and his art stands out from that of his contemporary artists. www.ftn-books.com is lucky to have some excellent publications on James Lee Byars.

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Johannes Gachnang (1939-2005)…quality publications

 

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The first time i met Gachnang was during an exibition at the Haags Gemeentemuseum when he visited his friend Rudi Fuchs , who was at that time the director of the Gemeentemuseum. I remembered an unpleasant person, but Rudi wanted the publications by Gachnang to be sold at the shop of the Gemeentemuseum and i was critical about them. It was not that i was not convinced of the art within these publications, but the art by Gachnang was so personal and i thought “strange” that i did not see any selling possibilities for them. Years later, i started to encounter his works in museums and found them far more accessible than i first had thought they were. ALL Gachnang publication have a certain quality and belong to the best publications on art in the last 3 decades of the 20th century and some of them are available at www.ftn-books.com

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Fernand Leger (1881-1955)

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I am still in doubt for myself if i must consider Leger as one of the great artists from last century…or does he uses a ‘Trick” to compose and impress with his paintings. If one sees an extremely large sized work …it is almost in every case impressive, but as soon as it is a smaller one, the attraction is gone. I will show this with to examples. The first painting is roughly 3 x 4 meters and in the collection of the Fondation Maeght. The send is Trois Camarades in the collection of the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam. The first has typical figures by Leger with an abstract pattern painred over them….. a beautiful and impressive Leger. The second one, is for me far less appealing and a “flat” painting.

Make up your mind yourself on Leger , but know that there are some excellent publications available at www.ftn-books.com including a famous Sandberg designed catalogue

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Sculpture 10 days… Day 4 ..Tony Cragg ( 1949)

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Tony Cragg, british and famous in the Nineties, but nowadays he almost looks forgotten. No more great shows , nor great assignments…..but his works are still there. Present in great collections like the Boymans van Beuningen, Tate and Caldic collection. Maybe it is time to rediscover Cragg, because his works are highly original and well worth seeing. In many cases the scale is large and because these large sculptures can not be dismissed they often impress. Take a look at the books available at www.ftn-books.com and if interested visit the Caldic collection for this and other great sculptures by contemporary artists.

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A very special WERKMAN publication (1964) by Wim Crouwel

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Because i get notified by Pinterest which items are shared and saved, i found out that this is one of the most appreciated photographs of all publications on www.ftn-books.com

This publication was published on the occasion of the Werkman exhibition in Groningen in 1964 and one of the first designs that Wim Crouwel made for a dutch museum. In this same period he designed the publications for the van Abbemuseum which were followed from the early sixties on by the publications of the Stedelijk Museum. What makes this one special is the condition it is in  and the highly unusual appearance. The use of multi colored papers, its odd size and a cover chosen in relation with the Werkman print which is used as a cover. This publication is the top in dutch lay-out and design and must be considered as one of the very best publications of the sixties. Curious?………take a look at

https://ftn-books.com/products/groninger-museum-dutch-typography-h-n-werkman-wim-crouwel-design-1964-nm

and see for your self the many special qualities of this rare collectable Crouwel item.

werkman crouwel a

 

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Piet Stockmans (1940)

We were only 3 in Den Haag who offered the small studio ceramics by Piet Stockmans and now only one is left ( Toegepaste Kunst/ Valkenbosplein, Den Haag). The shop in the Gemeentemuseum Den Haag, Toegepaste Kunst and Studio 40 sold these little ceramic art objects. White or pale blue they made an everlasting impression when you first see them. Stockmans started his career at Koninklijke Mosa in Maastricht where he worked from 1966 until 1989. After that period he worked for himself and his studio became world famous among ceramic art collectors all over the world and many of them visited his studio in Genk. Stockmans has become a very successful ceramic artist who’s works are sold all over the world, which makes him not only as an artist successful, but also commercially his products are a huge success. One aspect of his designs deserve special attention. He has designed and made porcelain for many of the great chefs in Europe.

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Of course www.ftn-books.com has some nice examples of his publications . Browse through them and you will notice that beside his commercial porcelain there are some very nice and breath taken ceramic unique works.