Be

nn

o Te

mp

el

Disco

ve

r the

Mo

de

rn

iscoverodern

the

DM

Benno

Tem

pel

If one wants to understand modern art one cannot ignore the historical events that helped shape it. This book reveals fascinating links between artistic innovations, idealism and social developments that left their mark on the modern era.

In Discover the Modern, Benno Tempel, director of the Gemeentemuseum Den Haag, tells the story of modern art. An examination of different themes creates an atmospheric picture of the dynamic development of fine art from the nineteenth century to the present day. Embedded in political and social events, links are established between photography and painting, between space travel and utopian projects. This leads to fascinating comparisons, for example between Claude Monet and Wasssily Kandinsky, Francis Bacon and Gerhard Richter, or Anton Heyboer and Vincent van Gogh. The result need not be a clash. It can create harmony and surprising insights.

This publication is more than a book about modern art. It reads like an exciting exploration of modern times.

WWW.GEMEENTEMUSEUM.NL

120084_omslag_eng.indd 1120084_omslag_eng.indd 1 11-04-12 17:0811-04-12 17:08

iscoverodern

the

DM

Benno

Tem

pel

Content

Introduction 7

Stagnation and movement 13

Child and savage 55

Tradition and experiment 99

Game and utopia 135

Discomfort and appropriate 157

6

[1]

[1]

Sol LeWitt

Wall Drawing nr. 1020, 2002

Isometric Form, Acrylic

7

Introduction

Museums are a nineteenth-century idea born

of the desire to gather together remarkable

objects from the history of the world for the

purposes of education and entertainment. The

ideal was the so-called encyclopedic museum

housing a collection illustrating virtually every

era and style. That megalomaniac ambition

has nowadays been toned down, although

there are still museums that seem to want

to possess and preserve ‘everything’. The

Gemeentemuseum Den Haag is different.

Its special nature was already apparent when

it was founded in 1866. A number of Dutch

artists donated works to the City of The Hague

for the establishment of a museum. Those

origins proved decisive for the growth of the

collection. Artists have felt a special bond with

the Gemeentemuseum right up to the present

day.

The museum now has a world-famous

collection of modern art. It includes many

masterpieces, but it certainly cannot be

described as comprehensive. Personally I do

not see that as a shortcoming. It is precisely

because we have our strong points and

nonexistent showings in other areas (Pop

Art, for example, has left barely a trace on the

collection) that we have a very distinct profile.

The museum consists of several departments.

In addition to the large collection of modern

art there are the applied arts, fashion,

photography, musical instruments, and

drawings and prints. The Gemeentemuseum is

like a diamond - precious and multifaceted.

I have adopted a thematic approach in this book

introducing the highlights of our modern art

collection. I would like briefly to explain why.

A chronological, encyclopedic arrangement

by styles seems outmoded today. History is no

longer experienced as a succession of events

about which a single Truth can be told. Modern

society is in flux. The digital revolution has

demolished the gap between generations,

genders and origins, partly through the medium

of the worldwide web. Young people are

teaching their elders how to use the new media,

and users worldwide are no longer allowing

time zones or ethnic differences to stand in the

way of communicating. Shared identity and

common interests determine who we speak to.

Helping each other for free by means of open

source creates a different economic principle.

People tell each other about sources and pass

on tips. At present that mainly takes the form of

the large-scale sharing of music, for example.

And the powers-that-be react with old-

fashioned, rigid copyright. But the sharing of

knowledge will expand even more dramatically

in the future, so in some areas the role of the

authorities will decline. Because everyone can

air his or her own opinion. I think that this will

give rise to a new mentality that will also have

consequences for the stories that museums

have to tell.

The traditional museum is based on a

succession of movements. That, though,

simplifies the facts in order to suit the goal

of proclaiming that one true Truth. And the

8

international museum world shows exactly

where that can lead. Many collections resemble

each other, and the same artists are displayed

in the same constellations at different places

in the world. The museums are consequently

presenting a static history of art that is

becoming over-familiar and borders on the

boring.

Such an overarching view is not what we

want in the Gemeentemuseum Den Haag.

New associations are created by combining

our highlights differently, shrugging off the

straitjacket of movements in order to trace

lines of influence instead, for example. That

also enables us to set up confrontations

between artistic ideas. The result need not be

a clash. It can create harmony and surprising

insights.

It is often said that artists are way ahead of

their time. I do not believe it. Artists actually

reflect the times in which they live. Consciously

or unconsciously. They dare to look with a gaze

that sees things that ordinary peoplem iss. Art

can thus give us a better understanding of an

age. Just as events in society can colour the

significance of a work of art.

[2]

9

The highlights of our modern art collection are

presented accessibly in this book in the context

of events in society as a whole. That context

is important, particularly when you want to

demonstrate that art is not just a succession of

styles.

Modern art, like poetry, is regularly very

self-referential. A work of art comments on

forerunners or contemporaries or, just as often,

is about the act of creation itself. You could

say that a work of art of that kind is about

how you make a work of art of that kind. As a

result people sometimes get the idea that art

is difficult to approach. That, though, is very

much open to question. Art sometimes needs

explaining, but that is true of a great deal in our

society. My experience is that if you give the

viewer the context, even artistic processes and

intentions become fascinating.

In making the selection for this book I set out

to tell a different story for a change. One that

does not have just a single truth but a story

that plots different lines of development that

in many cases do not lead to clear-cut answers.

By doing so I hope to put the reader on a trail

that turns looking and thinking about art into an

experience.

The history of the Gemeentemuseum Den Haag

and its large collection of modern art stretches

back more than 150 years. Although chance

often played a part in its acquisitions there is

a cohesion. Many of the pieces have visionary,

poetic and human features.

A lot of the artists whose works are in the

museum pursued visionary ideas. There is

the hope, for example, that was cherished by

Mondrian and the members of De Stijl that

their art would hasten the dawn of a better

future. And for decades Constant constructed

a completely new Europe. The artists were

searching for a new world and dared to dream.

[3]

[2]

Gemeentemuseum Entrance

[3]

Sol LeWitt

Wall Drawing nr. 1018, 2002

Isometric Form, Acrylic

10

The poetic aspect is provided by the inter-

action between the aesthetics of the building

and the works of art. As shown by Sol LeWitt’s

murals. Even works that attract little attention

when presented in isolation in a neutral

building soon acquire an aesthetic in the

Gemeentemuseum.

The human element is largely due to the

relationship that springs up between the visitor

and the works. They are not remote pieces of

intellectual navel-gazing by artists who behave

like hermits. They are paintings and sculptures

that very decidedly adopt a standpoint, have an

aura. And it is because they are in this beautiful

museum building that we can do justice to their

empathetic quality.

To me, the special attraction of visiting a

museum is the fact that you step briefly into

a different world. A museum is a building that

you experience differently from a train station,

say, or a town hall or a hospital. You often slow

your personal tempo down to fit in with it, you

look more keenly and try to understand the

reasons that prompted an artist to make a

particular work. That is why the way the works

are presented is so important for the viewer’s

experience.

In the case of the Gemeentemuseum Den

Haag it is a pairing of exceptional, international

modern art with one of the most beautiful

buildings in the Netherlands. It was designed

by the architect Hendrik Petrus Berlage and

opened in 1935. Berlage excelled himself with

this, his last building. It is still a true temple for

art. The galleries are a pleasing size and most

of the artworks are lit by daylight. And here

too the human dimensions contribute to the

pleasure of a visit. The galleries are never too

large, and they vary in size, giving you the sense

that the museum is breathing. The result is a

building in the International Art Deco style with

exceptional refinement in its details.

When he designed this, the largest and one

of the most impressive International Art Deco

works in the country, Berlage drew inspiration

from buildings by the American architect

Frank Lloyd Wright. The result was an interplay

between exterior and interior, with a brickwork

facade.

The entrance is remarkable in itself. Lying

between two lakes there is a glass walkway

that puts visitors in the mood for what they are

about to experience. They then see unfolding

before them a museum with which one can

fall in love. I hope that this book will give you

the feeling of re-experiencing a visit to one of

the most important museum buildings of the

twentieth century.

Benno Tempel

11

[4]

12

13

Stagnation and movement

If there is one thing that characterises the nineteenth century in Europe it is the

Industrial Revolution with all its new inventions and resultant urbanisation.

More and more people abandoned the countryside for the city, upsetting a

centuries-old social balance. From around 1860 a metamorphosis took place in

many European cities. The old walls and gates were torn down to make way for

new residential districts to accommodate the influx of workers. The advent of

the steam train led to the demolition of entire city blocks to create room for the

railway network. And so it was that the modern city was born, the modern city

that is still part of our European landscape today.

More than any other city, Paris underwent a magnificent transformation in both

nature and appearance. The old Paris was pulled down under the direction of

the engineer and architect Georges-Eugène Haussmann. Many small, winding

streets disappeared, and the medieval houses were razed to the ground. In April

1868 it was the turn of Rue des Franc-Bourgeois in the St Marcel neighbourhood.

The Dutch artist Johan Barthold Jongkind, who lived in France, painted the

scene [ill. 7]. We can see what a laborious job it must have been. The buildings

were demolished with pickaxes from the roof downwards, floor by floor. The

old city was literally levelled, and in its place came broad avenues, boulevards

“Life in its thousand expressions, ever

changing, ever new” Emile Zola

[5]

G.H. Breitner

Untitled (detail), 1900/1996

Gelatin silver print, 13.8 x 20.1 cm

Gift Willem van Zoetendaal

14

[6]

Claude Monet

Quai du Louvre, c. 1867

Oil on canvas, 69.7 x 124.5 cm

Bequest private collection

The new successful elite wanted to

proclaim its status to the world, and art

gave it an ideal way of doing so

[6]

15

[7]

Johan Barthold Jongkind

Demolition of the Rue des Franc-Bourgeois St. Marcel, 1868

Oil on canvas, 56.7 x 66.1 cm

Purchased with support of the Rembrandt Association

and squares. The new city owed its grandeur to its parks and wide pavements,

and to the shopping arcades catering for the tastes of the prosperous middle

class. For the metamorphosis of the French capital also mirrored the rise of the

bourgeoisie. And of the nouveau riche and fortune-hunters. Society changed,

and its old leaders gradually surrendered power. The new successful elite

wanted to proclaim its status to the world, and art gave it an ideal way of doing

so. The nouveau riche was looking for an art that did not require any knowledge of

mythological tales, battles or episodes from the Bible. It also wanted to set itself

apart from the old guard, the aristocracy and the moribund royal houses. The

bourgeoisie wanted an art that fitted their newly acquired position and the world

they lived in.

That world was set largely in the public space. The well-to-do Parisian dandy

paraded in the most public place that there was: the city itself. He walked in the

streets, enjoyed what the cafés and restaurants had to offer, and visited the

opera, theatres and museums with his mistress. He was a peacock, dressed in

the latest fashion with a tall hat. He and his kind can be seen strolling around

[7]

16

[8]

Jean François Raffaelli

View of the Seine

Oil on canvas, 92 x 108.6 cm

Bequest private collection

in Claude Monet’s Quai du Louvre [ill. 6]. Sunlight sparkles through the leaves

of the trees, and one can almost hear the clatter of the carriages and horses’

hooves clip-clopping on the cobblestones. And the swish of the ladies’ gowns.

The gentlemen’s walking sticks click on the pavement. The city is a stage full of

impressions, of seeing and being seen.

A group of artists, the Impressionists, wanted to record all those impressions.

They found a contemporary response to old artistic forms. Their new painting

matched the lifestyle of the nouveau riche. The painters fastened their gaze on

modern, fashionable life.

They did not just look at what they encountered close at hand, out on the street.

Trains, omnibuses, bicycles even, made it easier to get out of town. Artists

explored the contrasts between city and countryside. It was a fascination

spawned partly by the way in which cities had grown. There was no longer a clear

dividing line between the city and its surroundings. With no town walls to contain

it the built-up urban area merged gradually into countryside. Garden allotments,

factories and sheds sprang up along the city limits. Jean François Raffaëlli

painted a view of the Seine with smoking factory chimneys in the background

[ill. 8]. The message is that although we are out in the country we are still only

just a stone’s throw from town. Jacob Maris’s Vegetable Gardens shows the area

where The Hague stops and the countryside begins [ill. 9].

[9]

Jacob Maris

Vegetable Gardens near The Hague, c. 1878

Oil on canvas, 81 x 72 cm

Artists did not just look at

what they encountered close at

hand, out on the street. Trains,

omnibuses, bicycles even, made

it easier to get out of town. They

explored the contrasts between

city and countryside.

[8]