It is however quite clear that she is ready for such a presentation.
Her more or less abstract sculptures are seemingly free floating in the air.
The whole composition may remind you of objects floating in the sea, subject to the tidal forces.
In fact the sculptures are based on objects Sebestikova found on nearby Scheveningen Beach.
The way she abstracts her subjects looks very much like how natural forces – water, wind, sand – reshape, crush, polish or re-polish objects.
As a visitor you can walk over the carpeted floor, which gives the installation a warm and inviting atmosphere, with muted acoustics.
No half work has been delivered by Sebestikova.
Courageously she has used the whole space of the museum’s so-called Cabinet space (it looks more like a neo-Medieval chapel) making its columns part of the composition.
As i’ve written quite extensively about it in VLR, i leave you here with some pictures of details and the strong recommendation to go and take a look for yourself.
Both deal with architecture, its demolition and its rebuilding.
Both spaces are quite beautiful, with a curved ceiling and a panorama window on one end.
The new wing has its own entrance and is, as such, not really connected to the rest of the museum; which doesn’t mean there is no modern and contemporary art on show in the main building.
Roy Villevoye
The rest of the museum tries to find a link between the history of the city and its art and artists from both Leiden and elsewhere.
Roy Villevoye
Roy Villevoye‘s (1960) Preparations (2009) aptly shares a room with the Lakenhal’s most prestigious treasures: the great works by Cornelis Engebrechtsz (c. 1462-1527) and his famous pupil Lucas van Leyden (1494-1533), both from Leiden.
Engebrechtsz, for all his artistic shortcomings, was a great colourist, composition designer and storyteller and his two great triptychs (amongst smaller works) in the Lakenhal are no less than masterpieces.
It was a great joy seeing them again (and indeed to see Villevoyes stunning work again).
Lucas van LeydenLucas van LeydenLucas van LeydenLucas van LeydenLucas van LeydenLucas van LeydenLucas van LeydenLucas van Leyden
The most famous work in the room is of course Lucas’ Last Judgement triptych (1527), which fortunately survived the massive iconoclasm later that century.
Jan Steen
Leiden also boasts a small but interesting collection of 17th century art, connected to Leiden, in its wonderful rooms with 19th century skylights.
Jan Wolkers
The so-called Pape Corridor shows works by novelist Jan Wolkers (1925-2007) who also was a prolific visual artist and who was born in Oegstgeest near Leiden and as a youngster he worked and painted there.
Jan Wolkers
His visual works on show are very much historic documents now.
During the 16th and 17th centuries Leiden became rich and important for its cloth industry and sales, for which Lakenhal was originally built (‘Lakenhal’ means Cloth Hall).
Some of that wealth can still be seen in the present museum.
Christie van der HaakChristie van der Haak
The museum recently presented some new cloth designs, amongst others by The Hague artist Christie van der Haak (1950).
Lakenhal also has an important collection of works from the first half of the 20th century, interspersed with contemporary works like this moving portrait of the hapless Marinus van der Lubbe (1909-1934; also from Leiden) by Gert Germeraad (1959).
Bram van VeldeJacoba van HeemskerckHarm Kamerlingh Onnes
Harm Kamerlingh Onnes
Mark Dion
Only few artefacts will remind you of Leiden’s academic history, amongst others a phantom cabinet by Mark Dion (1961).
Erwin Olaf
Another point of some local historic chauvinism is Leiden’s heroic role during the Dutch Revolt (1568-1648), which inspired the museum to commission a monumental photo work by Erwin Olaf (1959), which is probably more impressive than all other works in the room.
The museum breaths a sense of history connected to the present day.
Mattheus Ignatius van Bree (19th century)
Renovated it has become pleasant, clearly structured, light and more diversified.
Gustaf Wappers (19th century)
It doesn’t pretend to be cosmopolitan and it isn’t geared to big blockbusters, which is a relief in between all those art museums in the country which try to be interchangeable international entrepreneurial art depots.
Willem Thibaut (late 16th century)
The Lakenhal Museum can be proud of what it has become.
As i’ve written already quite extensively about the exhibition in Villa La Repubblica, i leave you here with some impressions and with the strong recommendation to go and see it all for yourself.
When he started teaching by the end of the 1970s, there was a kind of split between traditional craftsmanship and (traditionilised) conceptualism at the Academy, and there was little room for individual artistic development.
Krijn GiezenKrijn Giezen
Both sides took themselves extremely seriously and Giezen, as a newcomer, didn’t seem to fit in very well.
Bram De JongheChaim van Luit
He appealed to the inventiveness and imagination of his students, which was quite unusual at the time (and which is still, or again, a sensitive point at the Royal Academy and in education in general).
Krijn GiezenKrijn Giezen
He didn’t care very much for technique or aesthetics, contrary to what we had learned so diligently.
Chaim van LuitChaim van Luit
“Make a chair!” he told us, for our first assignment.
Chaim van LuitKrijn Giezen
Students who were all thumbs, like me, were initially shocked, but soon it became clear that it was nowhere necessary at all to construct a piece of furniture.
Krijn GiezenBram De Jonghe
His ways of seeing and working didn’t influence me immediately, but later on they did so undeniably.
Semâ Bekirovic
As a teacher he was easy going, accessible, good humoured and never imposing himself as the master who knows all.
Semâ BekirovicKrijn Giezen
That is also how his work looks like.
Krijn GiezenKrijn Giezen
Giezen was very inquisitive about the playful en inventive aspects of humanity, again, not interested in technique or aesthetics, and extremely uninterested in financial and eternity values.
Otterness, who started his career with amongst others the questionable video Dog Shot Film in 1977, made this far more endearing small sculpture (2004) as part of a number of fairy tale figures along the coast next to the museum.
The small sculpture used to stand in front of the museum’s entrance, but was recently removed to stand more near his fellow sculptures, pointing towards the museum (as can be seen in the last pictures).
Zwei Formen übereinander (Two Forms on Each Other), 1952
I leave you here with this non-representative selection of works, as i’ve written already quite extensively about the show in VLR.
Tachismus 4 (Tachism 4), 1958Napoleon und Brigitte Bardot, 1961Selbstporträt als Astronautin (Self-portrait as an Astronaut), 1968-69Stilleben mit Apfelsäge (Still Life with Apple Saw), 1969The Murder of ML, 1973Selbstporträt mit Maulkorb (Self-portrait with Muzzle), 1973Self-portrait with Butterflies, 1975Die Atommütter (The Atomic Mothers), 1984Jungfrau mit Stier (Virgin with Bull), ca.1988Raketenbasis, Missiles I und II (Missile Base, Missiles I and II), 1989Wangen-, Stirn- und Kinnsensationen (Cheeks, Forehead and Chin Sensations), 1996Nasenfilter (Nose Filter), 1998Die Illusion von meiner Tierfamilie (The Illusion of my Animal Family), 1999Zwei Arten zu sein, Doppelselbstporträt (Two Ways of Being, Double Self-portrait), 2000Ideenfischer (Idea Anglers), 2001Die Trauer (The Mourning), 2003Die unschuldige Blick (The Innocent Gaze), 2008Vom Tode gezeichnet (Drawn by Death), 2011 (detail)
As i didn’t plan to write a review i only made a few pictures just for the fun of it, so what you see here is not really representative of the experience as a whole.
Navid Nuur
All the more reason to go there and see it all for yourself!
