It is not the book itself, condition is fair+, but the realisation that all artists included in the book have become highly collectable artist, who’s works you can only acquire at steep prices nowadays. It shows the importance of collecting at an early stage by the museums. It is not difficult to pay millions for a work of art, but when you can see the quality at an early stage you can build a great collection…well done Centraal Museum.
the book is now available at www.ftn-books.com
I have experienced that there is a rising international interest in the 3 famous doll houses in the publica collections in the Netherlands. each has its own qualities but they all have in common the exceptional detail which makes these doll houses stand out from all doll houses which were made after these. Furthermore they show in great detail the daily life in the 17th century.
There is of course the most famous of all Sara Rothé doll house which is in the collection of the Gemeentemuseum Den Haag.
Then there is the doll house owned by Petronella de la Court which is in the collection of the Centraal Museum Utrecht
and finally the Rijksmuseum owned doll house which was originally owned and palyed by Petronella Oortman.
there are of course more examples to be found in dutch publica collections , but these are the most famous one of which www.ftn-books.com has of the two first ones classic and important publications.
BTW. these doll houses were not played by children but were in the collections and cherished by adult women.
About a year ago i mentioned in one of my blogs the excellent design and print quality of almost every publication of the Centraal Museum Utrecht they published since the early Seventies. I have encountered publications which were designed by Jan Schoonhoven and ick Bruna and many others and among them,…. and one of the last i discovered , is Lucebert who designed a very nice publication within the MEDEDELINGEN series in 1974. It contains almost 20 original Lucebert drawings for this publication. This will be a rare and highly collectible item in the near future, so pick up a copy if you have the chance. Know that there is now a copy available at www.ftn-books.com
Personally i am not the greatest fan of Jeroen Henneman, but i Recognize the importance of the artist for dutch art in the 20th century. Specially the time bracket between 1965 and 1980 is important, because in this period his works found their way into private collections. They were accessible and of high quality, but they never had great appeal to me personally. Nevertheless i encountered his works at auction and exhibitions and i always had an extra look at them, because when you first see them they have something extra, therefore i made the occasional book purchase because i like the institutions were he had his exhibitions. Specially the Nouvelles Images Gallery and the Stedelijk Museum made some great publications with his exhibitions which are both available at www.ftn-books.com
Henneman is certainly one of the best known “modern” artists in the Netherlands and admired by some well known dutch famous collectors, but i am not one of them. Many dutch people know of his portrait of the former Queen Beatrix and his silhouetted portraits are well known too, but as said….i am not a fan.
Every decade in Dutch design and typography has its own specialties. In the Interbellum there was the photomontage, Isotype and typography by Zwart, Schuitema and Arntz. After WWII , the Stedelijk MUseum was a source of inspiration for its director Willem Sandberg who made beautiful catalogues for his exhibitions in the Stedelijk. In the late fifties and early sixties Benno Wissing and Wim Crouwel lead the way in design, followed by the Total Design agency who had a leading role in dutch design in the seventies and eighties, which brings us to the Nineties. Here it becomes interesting. The large museums in the Netherlands practically all had their contracts with dutch “house” designers. Walter Nikkels for the van Abbemuseum, Swip Stolk for the Groninger Museum and Gracia Lebbink for the Gemeentemuseum Den Haag were such designers. And then there is the Centraal Museum. They had a very consistent publication program in which design , specially sized/formatted books and bindings were very important. www.ftn-books.com has some excellent examples of these publications for sale . I knew of course of these publications, but when i rearranged some of my inventory, it struck me that these publications are and will become more important in the world of book design every year from now. These publications are still available at reasonable prices , but it will not be long before others will recognize the importance of these books too.
