Art in corona times 102. The end of ‘Art in corona times’. What next?

Art in corona times 1. 2 May 2020, SinArts Gallery

From May 2^nd 2020 onwards i started categorising photo reports about exhibitions in Villa Next Door under the header Art in corona times.

Art in corona times 4, 15 May 2020, Topp & Dubio

Art in corona times 7a, 4 June 2020, A.R. Penck, Kunstmuseum, The Hague

Art in corona times 11, 23 June 2020, Mazen Ashkar, 1646

Art in corona times 18, 29 July 2020, Janice McNab, Stroom

Art in corona times 23, 19 August 2020, Caravaggio, Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam

By that time the corona restrictions were already intensely experienced by the arts sector. These days Covid-19 is still there but the heaviest lockdown measures have been lifted, so Art in corona times will be history for the time being. Art in corona times started with a visit to SinArts Gallery . I hadn’t seen Alex Lebbink, SinArts’ gallerist, for quite some time and he had organised time slots for individual visitors. The idea was that the corona measures would be very temporary and that i would use the label Art in corona times for a few postings, just to see how galleries and other art platforms were doing during the crisis and after that it would be more or less business as usual. However, that proved to be quite naive. Corona became a way of life in which the arts were not seen as an essential need in life. At first artists and other professionals were more or less empathetic to that idea, but as the crisis went on and on, the government’s sheer lack of interest for the arts became a thorn in the flesh of many an art professional, especially after the health minister’s remark that if you cannot go to the theatre you might as well stay at home and see a dvd, as if there was no difference between the two. Last week i posted Art in corona times 101 with some extra footage of the interesting exhibition about Aad de Haas at the Chabot Museum in Rotterdam and that was the last one under the corona banner.

Art in corona times 29, 17 September 2020, Steamboat, Trixie

Art in corona times 34, 28 September 2020, Jessica de Wolf, Artist Support Fair, Quartair

Art in corona times 37, 13 October 2020, Robbin Heyker’s Birding Club, featuring Arjan Dwarshuis

Art in corona times 43, 7 November 2020, Simphiwe Ndzube, Nest, The Hague

Art in corona times 48, 30 November 2020, Sjimmie Veenhuis, …ism

For those who want to have an idea of what was on show during the pandemic Art in corona times is easily locatable in Villa Next Door.

Art in corona times 52, 14 December 2020, Ellen Yiu, A Finger in Every Pie, Royal Academy students’ pre-graduation show

Lockdowns etc are over now but that doesn’t mean the worries about this or any other virus are gone.

Art in corona times 56, 20 February 2021, Ingrid Rollema, PIP Den Haag

Art in corona times 59, 14 March 2021, Paul van der Eerden, Romy Muijrers, Galerie Maurits van de Laar

Art in corona times 64, 9 April 2021, André Kruysen, Galerie Ramakers

Art in corona times 68, 30 April 2021, Zhang Shujian, PARTS Project

Art in corona times 75, 11 June 2021, Marion van Rooi, Jan Wattjes, Luuk Kuipers, Quartair

Covid-19 may return with a more dangerous version, and an altogether new and equally or more dangerous virus may come. The question is not if it will come, but when it will come. The bird flu virus being one of the most obvious contenders in the real viral world. Another worry in the aftermath of corona is the questionable urge of authorities to control everything and everybody, if possible with modern technology. This urge is understandable as authorities of any political colour try to influence social processes for the benefit of society as a whole. However, even before the Corona crisis it has already been proven that this urge to control has turned against citizens, as a holy faith in the objectivity of modern technology, market forces and a reduction of the state to a kind of control device has replaced a democracy in which different opinions in society play a role. Villa Next Door is not the place to make a deep analysis about society, politics, the free market, modern technology, the influence of debilitating conspiracy theories, and a considerable chunk of society that rather believes in so-called alternative facts than in real facts, that prefers evil tales to science. However this is the framework – as i see it – in which art is made, seen and presented today in this country, and i want to be clear about the context in which i give you my reports about exhibitions and art in this blog. After all, you don’t have to agree, but you should know. Another worry is the new situation with the war in Ukraine. One might suggest i should replace Art in corona times with Art in war times. However, the Netherlands are at the moment not at war with any other country. Also, it should be said that another devastating war is going on in Yemen for seven years now. Although this is principally a civil war, it has become internationalised, with other countries in the Middle East intervening. The conflict in Ukraine may have a global significance, or rather, it will have, even if the war itself remains physically limited to Ukraine. That, together with the devils unleashed during the Corona crisis, will bring us interesting but also ominous times. So, in the mean time, i repost some pictures here of some highlights of Art in corona times.

Art in corona times 81a, 12 July 2021, Joseph Palframan. Royal Academy, The Hague

Art in corona times 82b, 26 August 2021, Farkhondeh Shahroudi. Sonsbeek 20-24, Arnhem

Art in corona times 88, 27 September 2021, Yaïr Callender, Kadmium, Delft

Art in corona times 95, 17 December 2021, Casper Verborg, Galerie Helder

Art in corona times 97, 21 January 2022, Yesim Akdeniz, Dürst Britt & Mayhew

Hope to see you soon in real life or in this blog, stay healthy and sane, and keep your eyes open!

Art in corona times 101, 16 February 2022, Aad de Haas, Chabot Museum, Rotterdam

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Bertus Pieters

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Holidays in Friesland. 6 Medieval Frisian churches. Part 2

THIS IS PART 2 OF 2 ABOUT SIX FRISIAN MEDIEVAL CHURCHES SEEN DURING MY HOLIDAYS. CLICK HERE TO SEE PART 1

Petruskerk (St Peter’s Church), Wanswerd/Wânswert. Late Gothic church on a late Iron Age terp. Most features are probably 16th century, with many additions from the 18th and 19th centuries. However there must have been a much older church as tuff (used until the beginning of the 13th century) was found in the choir under its 19th century outer walls.

During and after the Iconoclasms of the 16^th century church buildings were often kept intact, as the protestants also needed a place to worship. Quite a few of these churches in the north were built on so-called “terps”, mounds built against the unpredictable sea. Frisians eked out a living in an environment prone to floods and these terps were already built in times long gone, so to many Frisians they were a common and precious feature in their landscape. They were places of safety and salvation. Churches were built on top of them. Originally they were of course built with clay and wood.

Petruskerk (St Peter’s Church), Wanswerd/Wânswert. West entrance and window.

Petruskerk (St Peter’s Church), Wanswerd/Wânswert. Bell tower from the west. By the time we were there a peregrine falcon was hibernating in the spire. There was a birdwatcher granting us a look through his telescope at the bird which was watching us anxiously and surveying the flat wintery Frisian landscape. At the moment this picture was taken the falcon was flying around, probably looking for some fat pigeons.

Petruskerk (St Peter’s Church), Wanswerd/Wânswert. The nave from the south. The different building and masonry can clearly be seen, especially the difference between the 19th century and earlier masonry.

Petruskerk (St Peter’s Church), Wanswerd/Wânswert. The nave from the north with, again, a mixture of different styles.

Petruskerk (St Peter’s Church), Wanswerd/Wânswert. We were given access to the church spontaneously by the hospitable sexton, who saw us walking around the building. This is the interior to the west, with the organ, built in 1877.

Petruskerk (St Peter’s Church), Wanswerd/Wânswert. The interior to the east.

Petruskerk (St Peter’s Church), Wanswerd/Wânswert. Tombstone in the church.

But the local monks fostered new technologies for agriculture and for building. Around the year 1000 and afterwards many stone churches were built, like in the rest of western Europe. The international style then was the Romanesque with its sturdy, robust walls and small round-arched windows. There were of course no rocks in Friesland to hew stones from, and the technique of making bricks was lost centuries ago, so building stones had to be shipped from as far afield as the Eifel in Germany. The oldest churches still have masonry with these stones. Good examples amongst the six churches we visited are the ones in Genum/Ginnum and especially the very old one in Hogebeintum/Hegebeintum.

Grote kerk (Great Church) or Sint-Maartenkerk (St Martin’s Church), Hallum. Seen from the northwest. 13th century nave with 18th century buttresses, 12th century chapel, tower beginning 19th century.

Grote kerk (Great Church) or Sint-Maartenkerk (St Martin’s Church), Hallum. Northwest view with very clear differences in the masonry of the chapel (12th-13th century), the nave (13th century), buttresses (18th century) and bell tower (19th century).

Grote kerk (Great Church) or Sint-Maartenkerk (St Martin’s Church), Hallum. Nave from the north. On top of the windows you can see probably re-used tuff. The whole façade in fact gives an idea of the long building history of the church.

Grote kerk (Great Church) or Sint-Maartenkerk (St Martin’s Church), Hallum. Façade of the originally 12th century north chapel. However the window is clearly gothic, while the differences in masonry also tell a quite long story.

Grote kerk (Great Church) or Sint-Maartenkerk (St Martin’s Church), Hallum. North chapel seen from the northeast.

Grote kerk (Great Church) or Sint-Maartenkerk (St Martin’s Church), Hallum. The 19th century choir with older traces.

Grote kerk (Great Church) or Sint-Maartenkerk (St Martin’s Church), Hallum. The church from the south. The 15th century south chapel was later re-used as a protestant consistory.

Grote kerk (Great Church) or Sint-Maartenkerk (St Martin’s Church), Hallum. The nave from the south.

Grote kerk (Great Church) or Sint-Maartenkerk (St Martin’s Church), Hallum. Again the local sexton gave us free admission to the church. This is the interior looking west. On the left the 1773 pulpit and on the right the 17th century “herenbanken” (seats for the local gentry).

Grote kerk (Great Church) or Sint-Maartenkerk (St Martin’s Church), Hallum. Interior to the east

Grote kerk (Great Church) or Sint-Maartenkerk (St Martin’s Church), Hallum. Interior to the north with the north chapel.

Grote kerk (Great Church) or Sint-Maartenkerk (St Martin’s Church), Hallum. 19th century organ.

Grote kerk (Great Church) or Sint-Maartenkerk (St Martin’s Church), Hallum. One of the many tombstones in the church.

Grote kerk (Great Church) or Sint-Maartenkerk (St Martin’s Church), Hallum. One of the many tombstones in the church. This one with a beautiful 16th century perspective relief.

When brick making was reintroduced in the Low Countries at the beginning of the 13^th century, the Gothic style had already replaced the Romanesque in more southern parts of Europe from the middle of the 12^th century onwards. The Gothic had bigger, pointed-arched windows and more refined and elegant building techniques and as such it was more able to represent the glory of the creed (and those in power). For that last aspect there was probably not much interest amongst the Frisians in the countryside. The Gothic became only fashionable up north in the 13^th century. It was used in a very practical way to allow more daylight in the church, to make some new architectural decorations and to enlarge the existing smallish and dark Romanesque buildings.

Church, Hogebeintum/Hegebeintum. This church sits on the highest terp of Netherlands and Germany. The terp itself was probably built in the Roman Iron Age. It was dug out for its fertile soil, which caused many problems to the church and churchyard. It is now supported by an impressive concrete structure. The church itself is very old indeed, built in the 11th or 12th century.

Church, Hogebeintum/Hegebeintum. Apse. The church was originally Romanesque and built with tuff. However, like in any other old structure, things were changed through the centuries. The apse was raised in the 16th century and the small Romanesque windows were replaced by Gothic pointed arch windows.

Church, Hogebeintum/Hegebeintum. In the north wall of the nave you can still see traces of the smaller Romanesque windows. Around the first quarter of the 13th century the building was extended westwards, as you can see here.

Hogebeintum/Hegebeintum. Western part of the southern façade where you can see different styles: Romanesque, Romano-Gothic and Gothic, partly in the western extension of the church.

Church, Hogebeintum/Hegebeintum. Eastern part of the south façade, a tuff wall with Gothic windows.

Church, Hogebeintum/Hegebeintum. Seen from the southeast. The bell tower was renewed in the 18th century with masonry of that era.

Characteristic of the village churches in the two northern provinces throughout the ages are the gable roofs (instead of pointed spires) on the bell towers. It gives them a particularly robust character that didn’t really fit in very well with the Gothic or any other later style. Of the six churches we visited, only one – St Martin’s in Hallum – has a pointed spire, which is an early 19^th century replacement of a once gable-roofed bell tower. And there is of course the small church at Janum/Jannum which has no bell tower at all, but a hanging belfry with one bell. It was interesting – just as interesting as any big Gothic cathedral – to see these old structures in their modern day context; sometimes on terps and surrounded by houses and trees they stand out as landmarks in the very flat and agricultural Frisian landscape. Which makes a trip to that part of the province all the more worth it.

Church, Hogebeintum/Hegebeintum. Seen from the northeast.

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Bertus Pieters

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Holidays in Friesland. 6 Medieval Frisian churches. Part 1

Mariakerk (St Mary’s Church), Oenkerk/Oentsjerk. 13th century nave, 14th century bell tower with 17th century gable roof and sheathing, 19th century apse.

THIS IS PART 1 OF 2 ABOUT SIX FRISIAN MEDIEVAL CHURCHES SEEN DURING MY HOLIDAYS. CLICK HERE TO SEE PART 2.

As some readers may know i have a keen interest in European art and architecture made and built before 1600. Especially the so-called Middle Ages are interesting. They are dated usually from about 500 to 1500, but for the Low Countries it would be stylistically more appropriate to let the Middle Ages end in 1566 with the Iconoclasm starting that year. That definitely brought a radical end to Gothic art (which was already being replaced by the more fashionable Renaissance style in the cities). Church interiors old and new were torn down, sculptures and paintings were destroyed, frescos were covered with whitewash, and later on abbeys were confiscated and torn down, erasing a long social, aesthetic and religious history.

Mariakerk (St Mary’s Church), Oenkerk/Oentsjerk.

Mariakerk (St Mary’s Church), Oenkerk/Oentsjerk. South façade. Originally the church had a transept of which you can still see traces in the south and north walls of the nave. The apse (on the right) was partly rebuilt with original bricks.

Mariakerk (St Mary’s Church), Oenkerk/Oentsjerk. Steeple.

Mariakerk (St Mary’s Church), Oenkerk/Oentsjerk. West façade, with 17th century restorations.

Mariakerk (St Mary’s Church), Oenkerk/Oentsjerk. South façade.

Mariakerk (St Mary’s Church), Oenkerk/Oentsjerk. With traces of the north transept and a Romanesque window.

Mariakerk (St Mary’s Church), Oenkerk/Oentsjerk. From the north.

In fact this was the end of a long development starting with legalising Christianity and incorporating it into the Roman Empire by Constantine the Great in the 4^th century. After that the Roman Catholic Church became powerful and even omnipotent in Western Europe, with the Popes in Rome becoming princes as powerful, greedy and corrupt as any other secular king. Conservatism, oppression, corruption and religious opportunism led to social and political unrest, and in the end it led to the Protestant Reformation of which the Dutch Iconoclasm was a result. In spite of that devastating Iconoclasm there are still tangible remnants of the Middle Ages in what is now called the Netherlands. The Dutch Middle Ages are of particular interest because the country as a political entity didn’t yet exist.

Church, Janum/Jannum. Romano-Gothic church, late 13th / early 14th century, choir 13th century, roof and belfry16th century. It was built on a pre-historic terp (a man made mound built to keep dry feet during floods) which was partly dug down in the 19th century. Today it houses a small museum (which we couldn’t visit because of the Covid lockdown).

Church, Janum/Jannum. Western façade with belfry, and nave.

Church, Janum/Jannum. Belfry with church bell made in 1489

Church, Janum/Jannum. Western façade. The bead profiles of the windows are characteristic of the 13th century Romano-Gothic in northern churches.

Church, Janum/Jannum. Nave, north façade.

Church, Janum/Jannum. Choir. Before WWII the church was in a very bad state. During the War it was restored, which gave the workers the advantage of not being deported to Germany for compulsory labour. Although the restoration work was obviously carried out quite meticulously, the masonry of the choir looks almost new.

Church, Janum/Jannum. The nave from the south.

In medieval times the Low Countries were a collection of dukedoms, counties and bishoprics, spreading from modern day northern France to the North Sea, trading with each other as often as fighting with each other, often at war with or taken over by more powerful neighbours, but generally behaving quite independently. The present day Dutch are only interested in their Medieval heritage because it is all very old and still there, but they cannot take pride in it because there is no national Dutch heroism in it. Generally there is the idea that Medieval society was barbaric and intolerant. That ignores the fact that the Middle Ages were a long development of civilisation with both its shiny pages of enlightenment and its dark pages of barbarism, traces of which are still visible in the present. Amongst the oldest architectural remnants in the present day Netherlands are village churches in the two northern provinces Groningen and Friesland.

Church, Genum/Ginnum. From the south. Romanesque church, partly 12th century, enlarged 13th century, bell tower and apse 15th century. It was built on an Iron Age terp. Today it is used as artist’s studios.

Church, Genum/Ginnum. The northern part of the nave is the oldest part of the church. It has Romanesque decorations built in grey tuff. Tuff, a kind of volcanic stone, was imported from Germany. The technique of making bricks was lost since the Romans left the Low Countries, and it was only re-invented by the beginning of the 13th century. Although Frisian monks already knew in the 12th century how to make bricks, through their contacts with Italian abbeys, the Frisian sea clay was very difficult to work with and imported tuff was still preferred. So, even in Friesland and Groningen the use of bricks gives an indication of the time a church was built.

Church, Genum/Ginnum. Detail of the decoration. Traces of what was probably the entrance to a sacristy can still be seen.

Church, Genum/Ginnum. Detail of the decoration.

Church, Genum/Ginnum. North façade with a clear difference between the tuff masonry (left) and the later clay brick masonry (right).

Church, Genum/Ginnum. Western Romano-Gothic window.

During the week before Christmas i was on a family visit in a village northeast of the Frisian capital Leeuwarden/Ljouwert. It was a much wished for relaxed and worry-free holiday with loved ones i only see a very few times a year (or hardly at all under corona circumstances). The new Covid lockdown barred us from any visit to a museum, but then the Frisian countryside is as much an open air museum as any place could be. It is a museum of the present, of modernism, of nature, of agriculture, of geography and….. of Medieval times. So we took the opportunity to see some of these old Medieval churches.

Church, Genum/Ginnum. From the northwest.

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Bertus Pieters

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Art in corona times 96. Onco Tattje, De Poort (The Gate); Lauwersoog, Groningen province

In 1969 the Lauwers Sea (Lauwerszee), a small sea, was shut off from the Wadden Sea by a dam.

Today it is called Lauwersmeer (Lake Lauwersmeer) and it is situated in between the two northern provinces of Friesland and Groningen.

It is a National Park and a good place for bird watching.

On the eastern side of the national park is the fishing village of Lauwersoog, also founded in 1969, with the ferry to the Isle of Schiermonnikoog.

Also east of the Lauwersmeer National Park is a military training ground.

This monument by Onco Tattje (1943-2017) is in a dike built just between the national park and the military area.

It is a monument for the whole Lauwersmeer project and the refurbishment of the whole area, which took quite a few years.

It is quite impressive as a land art monument. A densely populated country, the Netherlands is not a very obvious place for land art.

As such this is, although not very well known, a very successful example in the north.

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Contents of all photographs courtesy to the estate of Onco Tattje and Lauwersmeer NP, Het Hogeland, Groningen province

Bertus Pieters

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Façades of The Hague #137

Bridge in Laan van Meerdervoort over the Verversingskanaal (Drain Channel) in between Conradkade and Suezkade, usually called Conradbrug (Conrad Bridge).

In 1937 this bridge was built to give a more solid base for the increasing and heavier car traffic in The Hague’s main western thoroughfare.

The bridge was designed by Antoon Pet (1885-1954) who, as a structural engineer and architect, was a civil servant in The Hague from 1919 until 1951.

Right in the background the first floors of Panoramaflat

It is a very robust bridge and at the time it was the biggest bridge (at a hundred feet) in The Hague.

It is still a local landmark, as are the two modernist buildings at the north side of the bridge: Cornerhouse (Jan Grijpma, 1929) and Panoramaflat (Piet Zanstra, 1962).

The bridge is embellished with different features, like a strange place inscribed with MANNEN (MEN), which may remind you of a forgotten war monument, but which are probably the remains of a public toilet. [Scroll down for a reaction by Casper de Weerd]

The bridge has also been provided with some sculptures, which was a fine tradition before WWII.

At the north side is a sculpture by Joop van Lunteren (1882-1958) of a boy with a toy sailboat made of a Dutch clog.

Wooden shoes were still in common use by the time.

A boy making a toy sailboat can be seen as a symbol of human, in particular Dutch and male endeavour.

It adds to the symbolism of the then modern bridge as well.

In the middle of the bridge is a monumental granite sculpture by Dirk Wolbers (1890-1957) called Veilig in’t verkeer (Safe in Traffic).

It represents a mother ready to steer her daughter and son through the busy traffic.

The traffic itself is symbolised by two small toy-like cars.

She stands there as an attractive young mother preparing her children for life in modern traffic in particular and in modern times in general.

As such they cross the bridge towards the future.

As for Wolbers himself: he died in a car crash.

At the south side of the bridge is another sculpture by Van Lunteren, representing a girl with a rabbit.

As a pendant of the boy with the sailboat at the other side, she obviously symbolises feminine compassion with creatures that need our care.

As such the whole bridge has become a symbol of modernity with traditions that have changed as a result of that modernity.

© Villa Next Door 2021

All pictures were taken in March 2017.

Bertus Pieters

Façades of The Hague from #72 onwards: https://villanextdoor2.wordpress.com/category/facades-of-the-hague/

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Art in corona times 82b. Sonsbeek 20→24, Arnhem, Sonsbeek and Zypendaal Parks

THIS IS PART 2 OF 2 OF A TOUR OF SONSBEEK 20→24. PART 2 IS A TOUR OF SONSBEEK AND ZYPENDAAL PARKS. CLICK HERE TO SEE PART 1 ABOUT THE CITY CENTRE.

Continuation of a visit i made to Sonsbeek 20→24, Arnhem to write a review for Villa La Repubblica. Click here to read the review in VLR (in Dutch)

Due to time shortage (and to the rainy weather) i only made pictures of a limited number of presentations.

As i have written already quite extensively about the show in VLR, i just leave you with the pictures, without comments.

Mae-ling Lokko, Gustavo Crembil – Sonsbeek Park

Wendelien van Oldenborgh, Erika Hock – Sonsbeek Park

Werker Collective, Gleb Maiboroda, studio bonbon – Zypendaal Park

Click here to read the review in Villa La Repubblica (in Dutch)

THIS IS WHERE PART 2 OF 2 ENDS. CLICK HERE TO SEE PART 1

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Contents of all photographs courtesy to all artists and the curatorial team of Sonsbeek 20→24, Arnhem

Bertus Pieters

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Art in corona times 82a. Sonsbeek 20→24, Arnhem. Part 1: City centre

THIS IS PART 1 OF 2 ABOUT SONSBEEK 20→24. PART 1 IS A TOUR IN THE CITY CENTRE. CLICK HERE TO SEE PART 2 ABOUT SONSBEEK AND ZYPENDAAL PARKS.

I visited Arnhem to write a review for Villa La Repubblica about the Sonsbeek 20→24 show. Click here to read the review in VLR (in Dutch).

Due to time shortage i only made pictures of a limited number of presentations.

As i have written already quite extensively about the show in VLR, i just leave you with the pictures, without comments.

front Ibrahim Mahama; back Antonio José Guzman – St Eusebius Church

Antonio José Guzman – St Eusebius Church

Anne Duk Hee Jordan – De Groen Collection

Willem de Rooij presents Pierre Verger – Showroom Arnhem

Click here to read the review in Villa La Repubblica (in Dutch)

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Contents of all photographs courtesy to all artists and the curatorial team of Sonsbeek 20→24, Arnhem

Bertus Pieters

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Façades of The Hague #135

Office building, Lange Voorhout.

It was designed by architect Jo Limburg (1864-1945) and built in 1910 for Martinus Nijhoff publishers and booksellers.

Limburg was an architect from The Hague and responsible for some remarkable buildings in this city, such as Herengracht 9 (1915-1916), Maerlant-Lyceum (1926), the building in which the present day restaurant of the Mauritshuis Museum is (1930), and a few others in which Limburg’s development from a more or less neo-classicist to a more modernist style can be seen.

As a Jew he was forced to go into hiding during World War II. He probably died while in hiding during the Bombing of the Bezuidenhout in 1945.

This particular façade is also a token of the lifelong friendship of Limburg and artist Willem van Konijnenburg (1868-1943) who designed the six remarkable sculptures which decorate the building.

There doesn’t seem to be a particular meaning to the individual figures. (If there is, please tell)

They all look neo-renaissance and they may be connected to thinking, philosophy, wisdom, priesthood, etc. but they carry no attributes as such.

Nowadays only the façade of the building remains as a state monument, the building behind it is new and it accommodates the Onderzoeksraad Voor Veiligheid (OVV; Dutch Safety Board).

All pictures were taken in March 2017.

Bertus Pieters

Façades of The Hague from #72 onwards: https://villanextdoor2.wordpress.com/category/facades-of-the-hague/

Façades of The Hague #1 – 71: https://villanextdoor.wordpress.com/category/facades-of-the-hague/

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Art in corona times 73. Voorhout Monumentaal 2021; Lange Voorhout, The Hague

To write a review for Villa La Repubblica about Voorhout Monumentaal 2021, i went to Lange Voorhout to see the public sculpture show there. Click here to read the review in Villa La Repubblica (in Dutch).

As it happened only two sculptures in the show – by Ewerdt Hilgemann (1938) and by Joncquil (1973) – were worth taking some more pictures of.

One of Hilgemann’s so-called Implosion Sculptures is on show.

These are welded geometrical shapes, which are vacuumed.

As such they look like post-modern statements about a worn-out modernism, where chance plays a role again.

Surrounding shapes and colours mix in the crumpled surface of the sculpture, making it part of the surroundings itself.

Joncquil’s Le moule qui rit (The laughing mould) –a title derived from the French cheese spread La vache qui rit (The laughing cow) – refers to both le moule, French for “the mould,” and la moule, French for “the mussel.”

As such it is also referring to Marcel Broodthaers (1924-1976) and his Pots of Mussels. Of course Lange Voorhout is full of shells, moulds if you wish, but as an absurdist object in The Hague’s chicest avenue Le moule qui rit also works very well, apart from its references.

Click here to read the article in Villa La Repubblica (in Dutch).

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Contents of all photographs courtesy to Ewerdt Hilgemann, Joncquil and Pulchri Studio, Den Haag

Bertus Pieters

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Façades of The Hague #130

Due to a navigational mistake and bad weather the British RAF bombed residential areas and the northern entrance of the city centre of The Hague on 3 March 1945, just two months before the end of the German occupation..

It was hard for a city that had just survived one of its cruellest winters in terms of sheer cold and hunger.

Many lost their homes and the city centre itself lost part of one of its poshest streets, Korte Voorhout

In fact the whole plot in between Korte Voorhout, Schouwburgstraat, Casuariestraat and Prinsessegracht was damaged and partly in ruins.

It is characteristic for a small city like The Hague that they were the ruins and damaged buildings of a court of justice, a theatre, a church, a jail, the Royal Dutch Automobile Club (KNAC) and a clinic, amongst others.

After the war the government wanted to have a new ministry, preferably a double one, of Justice and Finance, but decision making was stalled.

Only in the 1970s the present Ministry of Finance (Ministerie van Financiën) was built.

The huge building can be seen as symbolic for the power of the Ministry of Finance within the government.

More than ever it became clear that any political idea had a price tag, especially when society became socio-economically more and more sophisticated.

The building was designed by state architect Jo Vegter (1906-1982; who was not just responsible for modernist building but also for the restoration of quite a few old Frisian churches) and his assistant Mart Bolten (1916-2002) in strikingly modern brutalist style.

When in 1977 i went to study at the Royal Academy, just a few steps away from the Ministry, it was still a remarkably forbidding concrete palace.

The outlook of the concrete itself was only softened a bit by the prints of wood structure in it.

It was the impressive fortification of the state’s financial power.

Any Minister of Finance residing in that building must have had the idea of being a king in both a palace and a fortification.

In fact the inside of the building was a lot softer than that.

As art students we could see that, when the ministry offered rooms to show some of our graduation works, as the Royal Academy had a notorious lack of space at the time.

Enlightened civil servants would walk around amongst the works of these students who were training for a financially completely irresponsible future.

I’m not quite sure if the civil servants were really interested, but to them it was undoubtedly a nice diversion just before the summer break.

Coming to think of it, it wouldn’t be a bad idea if the Ministry would again give some space to students, who, for instance, would like to graduate with a performance or something like that.

Preferably with participation (obligatory!) of the audience. (Surely, it would be beneficial to the dialogue between art and society if students were able to show their works in both public and private institutions and in public space around the Royal Academy. But that’s probably easier said than done)

Although the building had a very modernist outlook, it was technically outdated within a few decades.

There were no double glazed windows and the whole inner climate had to be completely renewed to make the building more cost-effective.

The normal Dutch reflex in such cases is to abandon the building, keep the workers in a temporary but even worse place for years, and make plans to build a new and far more prestigious architectural colossus somewhere else.

Usually, making plans will cost quite a while, sometimes years, but in case of this building it was decided it was to be refurbished, and reused.

The uniqueness of the building played a role in that decision too.

It was decided that the original design would be maintained.

However, a lot of postmodern glass was used to give the building a more open character.

Also the courtyard has been opened to the public.

Redesigning was done by Meyer and Van Schooten architects.

The official entrance at Korte Voorhout has been made more welcoming with colours by monumental artist Jan van der Ploeg (1959).

But don’t be mistaken: any political novelty may fall when civil servants in this palace strongly advise their minister that costs and benefits of the idea are not at all in balance, if the minister didn’t already have that idea.

After all, the philosophy is still that money should be spent on those who have the power to spend a lot themselves, while some drops of their honey will then trickle down to those living in the mud.

However, with different social and political crises at the same time, and a review of the Dutch civil service, that might become less normal than it sounds. Let’s hope so, or at least, let’s hope for the better.

All pictures were taken in March 2017.

Bertus Pieters

Façades of The Hague from #72 onwards: https://villanextdoor2.wordpress.com/category/facades-of-the-hague/

Façades of The Hague #1 – 71: https://villanextdoor.wordpress.com/category/facades-of-the-hague/

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