Jana van Meerveld / Meret Oppenheim

Meret Oppenheim

Large cloudy sky over the continents

1964

oil on canvas

110 x 210 cm

Meret Oppenheim

The extreme diversity in topics and styles of Meret Oppenheim her works were an eyeopener to me when I started at art school in the eighties. Unfortunately she was labeled as a surrealist and dadaïst. This bothered her tremendously in her progress as artist, but she kept making works up to her death not fitting into art history boxes and theories. Her works ooze a refined intelligence and courage. It's still fresh. She paved a firm path in the art world for a feminine approach.

Jana van Meerveld, 2019

Jana van Meerveld (NL)

Automation Bias Joust

2019

oil on linen

75 x 100 cm

www.janavanmeerveld.nl

rk

Lex van Lith / Andrei Tarkovsky

Andrei Tarkovsky

still from Stalker

So many shoulders to stand on:

Peter Paul Rubens, how he constructs his paintings.

Frans Hals, all those variations in black.

The silence of Francisco de Zurbaran.

The great Americans: Robert Motherwell, Willem de Kooning,

(and also a late discovery: Milton Resnick).

Jannis Kounellis: how raw material can tell a story.

Poetry: Jan Jacob Slauerhoff, Dylan Thomas.

Too much to mention actually.

But most impressive: Andrei Tarkovsky’s Stalker and Andrei Roebljov.

Films in which you can get lost forever.

Wandering around without going straight for your goal.

As Tarkovsky said: "My ideal spectator watches a film like a traveller looks around in the country he's visiting.”

Lex van Lith, December 2019

Lex van Lith (NL)

OL1701401901

2019

170 x 140 cm

oil on linen
www.lexvanlith.nl

rk

Jans Muskee / Tintoretto

Tintoretto

Christ Washing The Disciples' Feet

1548-49

oil on canvas

228 × 533 cm 

Prado, Madrid

It was 1989 when I first saw this painting of Tintoretto. It was on an excursion from the Rijksakademie to the Prado in Madrid.

A revelation.

I made geometrically abstract paintings, delving into the relations of shapes and colour. In this painting I saw a similar investigation, but so rich and varied, and taking place on so many different levels. The artificiality which I was looking for in the abstract, could be seen here in the order of an everyday scene.

Not much was required: a stage, a backcloth, props and some figurants. Ever since that day, I have been making theater out of all I see.

Jans Muskee, 2019

Jans Muskee (NL)

An Early Sunday Morning

2014

oil pastel on paper

195 x 300 cm

www.jansmuskee.nl