Tag: den haag

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Gerard Petrus Fieret / 2 drawings

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It was years ago that i bought a poetry book by Gerard Pedtrus Fieret and found 2 drawings from 1982 by him within. The drawings are rapid sketches as he now and then made for friends. These 2 sketches were done for Jopie. I do not know who Jopie is , but in both is a woman depicted so i think Jopie was a female friend of Fieret. Both these drawings are now for sale at ftn art. In the near future i will publish some  “Bierviltjes”and letters i have in my collection. These drawings and letters were written to a friend of mine and are an important piece of Fieret history. But now the 2 drawings by Fieret.

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Erwin Olaf donates 500 “key” works to the Rijksmuseum Amsterdam

This morning you could read in the Volkskrant that Erwin Olaf donated 500 of his key works to the Rijksmuseum. Why the Rijksmuseum….because the last 5 year a bond between these 2 major forces in the art world grew now resulting in the extremely generous and large gift of the 500 most important works from Erwin Olaf’s career.

At the same time as this gift was announced, it was announced that the Gemeentemuseum Den Haag and the Fotomuseum will both open an Erwin Olaf exhibition in February 2019. Please check  both their sites in half a year when the details will be known for both these exhibitions. If you can not wait until February…… Check Erwin Olaf’s site and visit http://www.ftn-books.com for his publications.

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Jan Cremer (1940)

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I only met him once. It was at the time we had a meeting and discussed an exhibition at the Gemeentemuseum . We all sat down at the Library and together with all the staff involved we discussed the event. Across the room there were Jan Cremer and Babette. I remember that Babette had a clear vision of what had to be done to make the exhibition a success, but this was of course not the only time Jan Cremer and the Gemeentemuseum Den Haag had plans. There has always been a connection between Jan Cremer and Den Haag. The first is that he studied at the academy, buying his paint on the Hoefkade and exchanging his paintings for tubes of paint.

cremer fa a

One of these paintings is for sale at FTN art and secondly because he was one of the youngest, possibly the youngest artist that belonged to the Posthoorngroep and exhibited at the location of the Posthoorn. Others like Hussem and Nanninga were more important at that time , but the young Cremer soon found his place among them . His “barbaric” art was young and new and he had a good nose for publicitiy. His 1 million Gulden painting was discussed in practically all the newspapers in the early sixties, never found a buyer, but made his name as one of the young promessing artists. Later his name would be on everybody’s lips because of the controversial book  “Ik Jan Cremer” , which was an artistic and commercial success.

But never forget that Cremer is in the first place a painter, which he still proves everyday at 77. He still is the young man he once was, but with one difference …his painting has matured. www.ftn-books has some titles available on Jan Cremer.

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Stang Gubbels …. a dutch designer

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It was at the time Wim van Krimpen was the director for the Gemeentemuseum Den Haag that i met Stang Gubbels. Stang had worked with van Krimpen before on some projects he did with the KUNSTHAL/ Rotterdam. His style and designs are truly original , highly recognizable and together with the designs by Irma Boom and Gracia Lebbink, belons to the best dutch designs produced during the last 2 decades in the Netherlands.

Stang has an excellent internet site which can be reached at http://www.stang.nl and for those looking for his scarce publications…..www.ftn-boooks.com has two nice STANG titles available.

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Gottfried Honegger (1917-2016)

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Nearly 100 years , Gottfried Honegger died at the age of 98 in 2016 and left us a beautiful ouevre of Geometric and constructivist art.

was a Swiss artist and graphic designer. He was married to the Swiss illustrator Warja Lavater. He studied shop-window display at the Zurich Kunstgewerbeschule and taught there from 1948. His early work was commercial graphic design.

From 1955-1958 he was art director at Geigy. He lived in New York City between 1958 and 1960, and held his first exhibition there. In 1961 he moved to Paris and concentrated on painting, which concentrated on exacting explorations of circles and squares,[4] and (from 1968), sculpture.

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Honegger also spent time in Dallas, Texas as the artist in residence at the University of Dallas. Honegger died at his home in Zürich, Switzerland from a short-illness on 17 January 2016, aged 98. The first time i heard of this artist when i acquired a beautiful series of books which included 2 special prints by Honegger. The first artist i thought of was Ellsworth Kelly, but no this was for me an unknown Swiss artist who had the same quality as Kelly only only a much smaller scale. These works are time less and deserve to be collected by all great museum in the Modern Art world, but until now only in a few museums in Switzerland and Germany i encountered these works. It was easier for me to find some great publications on this artist which are now available at www.ftn-books.com

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Will Leewens (1923-1986).. playful abstract painting

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Without knowing , many people have contributed to the popularity of this artist and his works nowadays. He was one of the key artist who first started making his works available through dutch “Artotheeks” and art libraries. This started in the late Sixties and continued until the mid eighties. Art Libraries were fond of his works , because they were very colorful, abstract and even a little mystic, making them attractive for many of their members. These works are now recognized as typical Sixties/Seventies works of abstract art and belong to the best and most appreciated art works from these decades in the Netherlands. They are the colorful paintings Willem Hussem would have made when he still had lived . They are far less affordable  than a decade ago, but still very affordable and promiss a steep increase in value for the decades to come. Start searching in art databases and visit some galeries who have a nice selection of these works available and start here ….. www.ftn-books.com ( Ftn art ) has a beautiful painting for sale and for some reading search for Leewens at www.ftn-books.com

leewens groen c

 

 

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Andre Volten (1925-2002)

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Andre Volten is arguably the greatest sculptor form the second half of last century in the Netherlands. Educated in Amsterdam he soon became friends with contemporary artists like Ongenae. AAfter his arrival in Amsterdam he founded the LIGA NIEUWE BEELDEN and developed his art into a very personal form of abstract expressionism. Because he was at one time employed as a welder, steel and other metals were like wax in his hands and he could bend and transform them into the sculptures he wanted to make from the available materials. The result …. some magnificent large sculptures in public places. Sometimes they are hidden , but in many cases they are in the open. Just look at these 2 examples and find many more in classic publications on this artist at www.ftn-books.com. Among them iconic Wim Crouwel designed in brown and black cover . One of my personal favorites.

For more information on Volten please look at the www.andrevolten.nl site for information on the Volten foundation

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Lucien Clergue (1934-2014)

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Here is a classic photographer who made his name with the Corrida, Picasso and the southern French nudes. There is a story on Clergue and myself. In the early Seventies there was a gallery in the Kazernestraat in Den Haag called Arta. In the gallery graphic art was sold to members at really affordable prices and i, as a young student, could afford me some graphic works by young artists who sold their works for as little as 20 guilders. A small sum to be paid for an original work of art by mainly dutch artist, but there were exceptions which were also on offer, some sets with multiple etchings and the occasional photograph…one of them an original photograph by Lucien Clergue. A nude in the sea, sand around her torso , no face…just a body….but such an impressive photograph i had to have it.

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I took a loan with my parents and bought it and since , it has been in my collection. Later i learned the photograph came from one of the most famous series Lucien Clergue has ever made on THE SEA, shot in the Camargue in France in 1972 and resulting in one of the most iconic nude photo series any photographer has made . The photograph has now become for sale at FTN art.  This is a classic Clergue photograph in a small edition , stamped ,signed and numbered by Lucien Clergue and in immaculate condition.

For more publications on Lucien Clergue, please visit www.ftn-books.com

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Kees van Bohemen (1928-1985)

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Yesterday i mentioned the POSTHOORNGROEP and one of its members was Kees van Bohemen.

I remember that at one time, me and my parents visited a restaurant next door to the Haagse Kunstkring on the Denneweg in Den Haag and my mother told me that at the bar was a famous The Hague artist….Kees van Bohemen. I only knew his name from the paintings i had seen at the Gemeentemuseum, but possibly this was the first time i saw a true artist/painter in the “wild”. I remember he was drinking a beer and never left the bar during our meal. Many years later we met again in the Gemeentemuseum and at that occasion van Bohemen was offering his publications and some prints to be sold at the museumstore of the Gemeentemuseum. We took some of them in consignation and since i have been following his career. Making exhibitions at Pulchri, Kunstkring and Delta gallery it always struck me that his style was typical sixties and highly recognizable. Nowadays you encounter his works at the less prestigious auctions ( Venduehuis and AAG) but this does not mean they are not to be admired, they may not be in a price bracket of the Warhol’s and Basquiat’s, but that is not what art is about. The art of van Bohemen is admirable and deserves to be collected and shown in museums and fortunately many do admire his works. Here are the publications available at www.ftn-books.com

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Willem Hussem (1900-1974) and the “Posthoorngroep”

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What about these glasses!….it is the first thing you see when you look at this portrait of Willem Hussem, a dutch painter from the Hague who formed together with Nanninga , Roede and Bohemen the core of the “Posthoorngroep”. The met weekly in the famous cafe de Posthoorn where they discussed art and everything else, but most of all inspired each other to some of the greatest art found in the Netherlands in those days, Among them Willem Hussem was perhaps the most diverse ( painting , sculpture and poetry), but certainly one of the most outspoken member of the group. Willem Hussem his works are spread all over the Netherlands in Museums ( Gemeentemuseum Den Haag, Stedelijk Museum, Dordrechts museum) and many private collections. If you are searching to add a beautiful Hussem to your collection, let me know because i know of the whereabouts of some excellent paintings that are for sale by this great artist and of course www.ftn-books.com has some nice publications available.

hussem paol a

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