de rook – FTN-blog

Posted on 25 September 201711 February 2018 by ftnbooks — Leave a comment

Jan Voss (1936)… more complex over the years

Schermafbeelding 2017-09-01 om 11.38.35

I have seen developing Jan Voss’s work over almost 4 decades now and with each new decade and exhibition, it looks to me that his works are getting more complex. The fundaments of his art are the same , but he squeezes more elements in the same drawing/painting. Brightly colored these are a joy for me to look at, but unfortunately for Voss, his work was only noticed by some curators in Belgium, France , the Netherlands and Germany and outside these countries his work is hardly known. It is in these countries his admirers can be found. For decades, Jan Voss has experimented with various different techniques, materials and groups of works. The underlying theme in his work is creating order in the midst of a perpetually moving chaos of complex situations – chaos and order, construction and decay of uncertain situations, similar to the conditions that exist in everyday life. Today, this state is bombarded by a number of signs and meanings which also play a major role in Jan Voss’s art.

There is one publication i would like to mention and which is of course available at www.ftn-books.com. It is the catalogue Jan Voss made for the Haags Gemeentemuseum, NADRUK. The exhibition was curated by Gerrit Jan de Rook and the book that was published with this exhibition was a true artist book of which the original edition was only 1000 copies, but i know for a fact that over 600 copies were destroyed, because they could not be sold. The remaining part was sold over the years at Sales and other special occasions. This artist book from 1984 is completely designed and filled by Jan Voss. A book in which he gives his Voss interpretation of the collection of the Gemeentemuseum. For those of you that have an interest in Voss, now is the time to pick up his works and books , still affordable and a great investment for the future.

Posted on 20 March 201711 February 2018 by ftnbooks — Leave a comment

Carl Andre (1935)

Schermafbeelding 2017-03-20 om 11.36.18

Carl Andre (born September 16, 1935) is an American minimalist artist recognized for his ordered linear format and grid format sculptures. His sculptures range from large public artworks (such as Stone Field Sculpture, 1977 in Hartford, CT and Lament for the Children, 1976 in Long Island City, NY) to more intimate tile patterns arranged on the floor of an exhibition space (such as 144 Lead Square, 1969 or Twenty-fifth Steel Cardinal, 1974). In 1988, Andre was tried and acquitted in the death of his wife, artist Ana Mendieta.

This is how the text on Wikipedia starts on this great artist. Together with Sol LeWitt and Donald Judd he is recognized as being one of the artists who started the Minimal Art mouvement. Specially in the late sixties these three names were presented in group exhibitions on Minimal Art. In 1968 the Haags Gemeentemuseum was the first museum in Europe to hold an exhibition on Minimal Art, curated by Enno Develing who later became one of the authorities on Minimal Art and was a long life friend of Sol LeWitt after the exhibition was held.

Just a small story on some of the great art which was sold through the shop of the Gemeentemuseum. In 1986 the museum held its 50 years birthday celebration and together with this event some special art works were produced by famous artists….among them Carl Andre…he made some unique small copper plate pieces together with a drawing. If i remember correctly there were 8 of them. All sold instantly…..and i did NOT buy one…what a pitty ;-(

The most crucial event in his career is the death of his wife Ana Mendieta

In 1979 Andre first met Ana Mendieta through a mutual friendship with artists Leon Golub and Nancy Spero at AIR Gallery in New York City. Andre and Mendieta eventually married in 1985, but the relationship ended in tragedy. Mendieta fell to her death from Andre’s 34th story apartment window in 1985 after an argument with Andre. There were no eyewitnesses. A doorman in the street below had heard a woman screaming “No, no, no, no,” before Mendieta’s body landed on the roof of a building below. Andre had what appeared to be fresh scratches on his nose and forearm, and his story to the police differed from his recorded statements to the 911 operator an hour or so earlier. The police arrested him. Andre was charged with second degree murder. He elected to be tried before a judge with no jury. In 1988 Andre was acquitted of all charges related to Mendieta’s death

Schermafbeelding 2017-03-20 om 11.37.29

The works by Andre are still very much visible in the collection of the Gemeentemuseum and the last addition of ‘WEIR” was done by Rudi Fuchs in 1988/1989 after the Carl Andre exhibition of 1987. The catalogue and other Carl Andre books are available at www.ftn-books.com

The 1968 Minimal Art / Enno Develing catalogue was published in PDF as a reprint and because i still have this available in my personal collection i can offer all purchasers of a Carl Andre item a copy of this in PDF file. Please let me know with your order that you want the PDF file sent by email.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Posted on 23 November 201612 February 2018 by ftnbooks — Leave a comment

Pat Andrea and Zomeravond Softball

schermafbeelding-2016-11-23-om-09-33-20

I have always been an admirer of Pat Andrea’s work. From his earliest days he illustrated books by Herman Pieter de Boer to his later years in which he made large sized paintings. One of the first ( possibly the first) large paintings i saw by Pat Andrea was his ZOMERAVOND SOFTBAL which was in one of the staircases of the Haags Gemeentemuseum. An impressive painting which in the late 80’s disappeared. Is it in the depot or has it been exchanged with another collection? ….i do not know, but what i do know is, that in 1985 the Berlage masterpiece , the Haags Gemeentemuseum, celebrated his 50 years of history since opening. Gerrit Jan de Rook was the curator who was in charge of a special editions program in which he invited a selection of artists to make a “special” for the celebration. Among these works by the famous Carl Andre, but Pat Andrea was commissioned too, to make a series of 8 small paintings on the theme of “Zomeravond softball”. When they became for sale i was very much impressed by these little gems too and decided to buy one… Now i had my small version of “Zomeravond softball”

andrea-softball

I have very much enjoyed this beautiful Pat Andrea for over 20 years , but decided to sell it when i needed the funds to buy another piece of art. The work was sold, but the admiration for Pat Andrea remained. You can look at www.ftn-books.com for more publications on Pat Andrea. Including Journal d’Aurore, which is at this moment the only copy on the market ( inquire)