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Arjanne van der Spek (1958)

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Is it luck or did it had to be this way?,….. because a few months ago if finally could purchase for the FTN collection an important and i think beautiful and intriguing sculpture by Arjanne van der Spek. It must have been some 25 years or more ago that i think Gerrit Jan de Rook introduced me to Arjanne van der Spek.  It was during the exhibition she had at the Gemeentemuseum and was joining Frank van Hemert in their joint presentation. A just starting, promising sculptor, who had finished her education and studies at the Ateliers 63 just half a decade earlier. She had her first solo exhibition at the Tanya Rumpff gallery who had started her gallery a few months earlier. I went to the gallery to see the other drawings and sculptures other than the ones i had seen and admired at the Gemeentemuseum and i really fell for her sculptures. As i explained to her a few weeks ago …they were intriguing and completely different than the sculptures i had seen before. The use of wood, steel, ceramic and tissues all in one sculpture were new to me. Unfortunately i could not afford a sculpture, but time changes everything  and a few weeks ago i was able to buy KNAP KNAP KNA from the former Klein Breteler collection, who had the work acquired from gallery de Vries in Haarlem. The work was not sold during auction, but i was able to buy it in the aftersale. I informed Arjanne that i had bought the KNAP KNAP KNAP and she was delighted to hear it found a new home. She thought it to be one of her best works and is still very fond of it so i offered it on loan when ever she wanted to use it in an exhibition:

‘Knap Knap Knap’ (2009)

a mixed media object (ceramic, wood, paint, brass) in two parts, 70x100x40 cm

Provenance: Acquired from Galerie Rob de Vries, Haarlem

It is a large work which makes it not that easy to place although outside placement under a roof is an option.

I added this work last week to the FTN art section and for those interested in buying please inquire at wvdelshout@ziggo.nl

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Bill Brandt (1904-1983)…body parts

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Yesterday….  a blog on Marianne Brandt, today the subject is Bill Brandt. Not related in anyway  and an age difference of some 50 years, but both working with photography. But where Marianne cut up photographs to make some excellent photomontages, Bill Brandt uses the angle of the lens to make some very impressive photographs. For me Brandt is together with Lucien Clergue one of the very best nude photographers from last century. He uses the angle of the lens to photograph parts of the body and with this technique his photos are like the sculptures of Maillol and Moore in which body parts are enhanced and polished into almost abstract sculptures.

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This technique makes him quite unique among photographers and with this quality he stands out. Add the use of Black and White film and Bill Brandt becomes a very recognizable photographer. His nudes are among the very best photographs from the last century and it took me only a minute to find some of the examples that show in an excellent way that what i tried to explain in words. www.ftn-books.com has some Bill Brandt titles avaialble.

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Mario Ceroli (1938)

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This is what his site says about the artist:

Mario Ceroli is one of the most important representatives of contemporary art in Italy.  As an eclectic artist, sculpture, designer, architect, painter and scenographer, he has been able to transform, during his long career, such powerful raw material as wood in breathtaking one of a kind art pieces. Born in 1938 in a small town of the province of Chieti, Italy, he moved for the first time to Rome in the early 60’s. This was the emerging period of the pop art in Italy; a motivating moment of the traditional contemporary art in which he distinguished himself with his capacity to combine tradition with modern. Mario’s creativity runs from reinterpreting famous art to creating new open spaces, furnishing theatrical plays to the realization of great sculptures en plein air including references to material reality and symbolic figures. Ceroli recognized, other than his masterpieces, as a pioneer in starting a wave of expression in art and demonstrating with a strong conviction that experimenting with new materials is the beginning of professional growth in a real artist.

His great artistic talent allows him to obtain from natural elements such as wood, glass, earth and ice, a blend of geometrical figures, inlaids, marvellous works that can be only created by a master mind.  When Ceroli talks about wood, he states, “It’s the only material that allows me to right away give form to my imagination and ideas; it’s from the material that the images jump out of me”.

Ceroli known in the world especially for his horses, sculpted in bronze and wood, symbolizing salvation and aspiration, the founder one is the bronze horse that we can find in the middle of the Rai Headquarters in Rome. Although he is at the top of contemporary art in Italy, his work also mirrors the research of “The Beautiful Ideal” from Winckelmann in the late XVIII century. With the unusual form that his sculpted furniture takes place, you can perceive the presence of the metaphysic paintings of Giorgio De Chirico in such way that it actually honors him.  Ceroli’s art offers a one of a kind esthetic experience; an encounter between past and present and a total immersion in beauty.

Please visit his site, because it is well worth your visit:

http://mobilinellavalle.it/en/artist-mario-ceroli/

www.ftn-books.com has two rare Ceroli titles available

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Piet Dirkx weekly ….3

We have several “hearts” in our collection, because next to the book, mouth and dots shapes, the heart is a typical shape that Piet uses frequently. This specific heart in Rose was given to us by Piet & Joyce as a present to our wedding. It has been hanging on our walls without interruption since. A symbol of our love for each other and admiration for the artist Piet Dirkx. Hart, wax, size approx 28 x 24 cm. (collection W. & L. van den Elshout)

dirkx weekly hart trouwen

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Chris Lanooy (1881-1941)

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If ever there was one potter who was of great influence to the dutch potter generations to follow it must have been Chris Lanooy. He set a standard with forms and decorations for the decades to come and for instance the Rozenburg and Gouda potteries were all highly influenced by this master potter. It is of late that his works are recognized as highly influential and authentic and a recent monograph TUSSEN TWEE VUREN from some years ago proves it. ( available at www.ftn-books.com)

Chris Lanooy deserves to be recognized internationally as one of the great potters from last century since his pottery is now considered as true art.

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Victor Vasarely another special edition added

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I have had a weakness for the art of Victor Vasarely. It must have been one of my first encounters with Modern Art in the Mid Sixties. In the window of an art dealer in de Hoogstraat in Den Haag there were on display signed serigraphs by Vasarely and since OP Art and Pop Art were popular  i took an interest in these Vasarely too. I could not afford them, but found some 20 years later that Vasarely published highly affordable book publications which had the same quality as his prints. I have been collecting and adding Vasarely books and special publications to my collections ever since and yesterday i added another special publication. It is the 1961 Hanover gallery Vasarely catalogue. Not too many pages ( 32) , but what makes this special is the extra silkscreened inlay which can be combinedx together with the first print within the catalogue. My guess is not many of this rare cataloguue will have survived and what makes it even more special is the pristine condition of both silkscreened print and bookpage. Here are the photographs of this special and highly collectible Vasarely catalogue which is now available at www.ftn-books.com

vasarely bondstreet f

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Corneille and Jaski Art (1992)

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Jaski Art was founded in 1988 and it must have been shortly after that they represented Corneille as an artist. From that day on Corneille commercial success was far more than ever expected. AS a CBRA artist , Corneille was known for his composition and child like drawings, but as his name grew he was appreciated for his female heads, nudes and birds and in many cases a colorful comppostion soft all three elements. Personally i think Corneille of the last 3 decades is less interesteing than his early period. There are of course exceptions and one of those is the Corneille 1992 publications which contains an original  lithograph with one of his child like drawings . Signed and numbered from an edition of only 250 copies this is the one to have and available at www.ftn-books.com

It has all the qualities of his early Cobra work and illustrated why as a COBRA artist Corneille is one of the greatest.

corneille jaski cc

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Daan van Golden and Ameland ( 1971)

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Hollum/Rotterdam, Daan van Golden/Rotterdamse Kunststichting, 1971. Folded green cover with letterpress containing a stapled cellophane wrapped herbarium, 22,5 x 15 cms. (assemblage) between 2 cardboard sheets, 25 x 21 cms., consisting of a colour postcard, feathers, sand, tree-leaves, grass, fern. Van Golden spends October and November 1971 on the island of Ameland; while walking and cycling he collects leaves, mosses and so on; the result is a series of 500 cellophane wrapped herbariums. Van Golden’s Ameland report is distributed as the 6th edition of the ‘Atlas voor een nieuwe metropool’.

Thi is the comple description of the publication which was made after AVn Golden visited Ameland for the Atlas van een nieuwe Metropool project. This extremely rare publication is now available at www.ftnbooks.com

 

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Claes Oldenburg (1929)

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Claes Oldenburg and Coosje van Bruggen. They are a couple and the reason i mention this is that without Coosje van Bruggen , Oldenburg would never have become the great artist he now is. van Bruggen has written all monographs on Oldenburg and is mentioned in every publication. van Bruggen was his second wife, but undoubtedly the one who had the greatest influence on him and his works. It was about 15 years ago that i for the first time encountered in real life some other work by Oldenburg than the screw from the Boymans van Beuningen collection.

We visited the Guggenheim in Bilbao and there they were ( nowadays the space is occupied by the MATTER OF TIME by Serra) Immense sculptures made out of polyester and painted in bright colors in a Gehry surroundings. The ensemble of both reminded me of a Disneyland setting, but these sculptures were so impressive that i, for the first time, realized the importance of Oldenburg as a sculptor. It is still a rare occasion that i encounter a large Oldenburg but since the Bilbao sculptures i am looking with different eyes to all Oldenburg sculptures including the very familiar SCREW at the Boymans van Beuningen museum. www.ftn-books.com has some nice Oldenburg publications available including the Crouwel designed Stedelijk Museum catalogue from 1977 and the Crouwel designed poster for this exhibition.

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Gerard Garouste (1946)

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Garouste is now one of the grand “old”  mater painters in France, but that has not always been the case. From the mid Seventies until the early 80’s he was one of the angry young French wild painters who rose  to fame with (extremely) large paintings of which many were brought together in the Bordeaux CAPC museum in 1987.

Since his star rose in France and abroad and now he has the stature of one of the great 20th century painters…and deservedly so, because his paintings are one of a kind and you will not lightly forget a Garouste painting once you have seen one. Unfortunately these are far too large for any private collection and i am personally not the greatest fan of his smaller works. The best you can do is buy one of the great catalogues which is publiched in one of the last 3 decades and emerge in the world Garouste has created with his impressive paintings.

The CAPC catalogue is available at www.ftn-books.com