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History
Prologue
Do art gallery holders keep daily notes on their adventures, on what makes
them tick, on their hopes and achievements? Even if they had the
inclination, they probably wouldn't have the time. And yet no-one has total
recall. Maintaining an Internet site encourages this kind of rumination, and
what makes a site such a jolly convenient auxiliary aid is that it doubles
as a sort of expanded memory: use it to store everything you remember and
simply add anything that comes to mind at a later stage. Let's therefore
kick off with a chronology of the life and times of Galerie Lieve Hemel, in
the soothing knowledge that inadvertent gaps can always be filled in at the
push of a handful of buttons. 1968 Galerie Lieve Hemel opened its doors on 2 December 1968. At the request of Ankie Hagendoorn, his first wife, Koen Nieuwendijk (then a political and social science student at the University of Amsterdam) had knocked together a boutique-like gallery in a tiny basement flat in the centre of Amsterdam where the ceilings were so low as to spark the emporium's inevitable name: "Lieve Hemel, stoot je hoofd niet" (Good heavens, mind your head). (A word or two on Ankie Hagendoorn. Before her marriage she was a student at the State Academy for Visual Arts in Amsterdam. Later on her adventurous and creative mind gave birth to a multitude of ideas. Among the many things she did were the design of sets and costumes for a play and the creation of a series of off-the-wall dolls - and then there were the paintings she made. A mental disorder which later turned out to have affected her since birth ruined her life and indirectly led to her death. Her involvement in the visual arts was a major reason for launching Galerie Lieve Hemel.) The collection started out quite diverse, but within a year was evolving towards contemporary realism. The opening chapter had been written, now it was time to start on the real story. It was at this early stage that Lambert Tegenbosch, the Volkskrant's then art critic, wrote that although there was room for improvement in the collection, he would not at all be surprised if it would evolve into something substantial, or words to that effect. (Mental note: as soon as I have dug up the original review in my files, I'll include the verbatim quote.) Viable though the undertaking had been right from the word go, business was far from smooth at first. Koen Nieuwendijk dropped out of college and gave up his sideline job as secretary to a management consultant, and stumbled upon an article from outside the sector which ensured Galerie Lieve Hemel's survival: as a DIY fanatic who happened to inhabit a 17th century dwelling full of architectural surprises, he rediscovered antique floor tiles as a characteristic floor covering. The sale of these tiles accounted for an alternative source of income until 1974. The first contact was established with the artist who has been with the galley the longest: C.B. Muller. 1971 After two and a half years, Galerie Lieve Hemel moved to considerably roomier facilities on Vijzelgracht, a former canal which had been filled in in the 1930s. Although the heads of the visitors were at considerably less peril at the new accommodation, the famous moniker "Mind your head" stuck. Art-wise the level was on the up and up. The first exhibition was made up of paintings by Johannes Koster, who would die some years later and who was commemorated with a special exhibition at the Fodor Museum. Examples of further prominent exhibitions were the Earthen Realities Show, the first in a series of eight bearing the same name each of which was devoted to the work of a new group of figurative ceramists (and which in 1981 brought forth the brochure Earthen Realities), and an exhibition featuring paintings by Johfra, who incidentally would not be included in what evolved into the typical Lieve Hemel territory in subsequent years. One of the current well-known veterans, Theo Voorzaat, paid his first call. Aficionados and collectors of his work cannot help thinking back wistfully to the days when his small panels could be had for a mere 500 guilders - they have since shot up in price to many times that. Meanwhile life was taking its toll: the marriage between the gallery's proprietors soon hit the rocks and was eventually dissolved in 1974. Having effectively been the gallery's sole driving force for several years, Koen Nieuwendijk carried on alone, stamping the collection to an even greater degree with his very own predilection for a subtle, sensitive type of realism. Life being what it is, it went on. The refreshing contribution by Yvonne Rost from 1975 onwards is decidedly noteworthy in this context. What had started out as a business association with a visitor and buyer of paintings soon developed into a close and lasting bond, with the gallery owner and his most esteemed client saying "I do" to one another on 22 December 1976. Meanwhile the Gallery went on to bigger and better things. 1977 The Gallery's participation in the Dutch Art Fair '77, the first-ever art fair to be held in the Netherlands, was nothing short of a watershed experience: the client base expanded dramatically. It was also the year in which Anneke van Brussel joined the exhibitors' ranks. 1978 The Gallery celebrated its tenth anniversary. The artists were each asked to create a work of art based on a biblical theme in the broadest possible sense, against the philosophical background that whether or not you are religious, Christianity has indelibly stamped the Western pattern of culture, and is reflected in your thinking. (The "Church of Cards" which C.B. Muller created to mark the occasion has been included in the virtual jubilee exhibition.) 1980 witnessed a rare feat: at the initiative of Dieuwke Bakker, three realistic galleries - Mokum, Petit and Lieve Hemel - joined forces, organising concurrent exhibitions of works by Bulgarian painters and graphic artists. A resounding success in publicity terms if nothing else. It was around this time that quite a few artists who currently make up the select group of exhibitors embarked upon an association which to date has remained very close: Ben Snijders, Olav Cleofas van Overbeek, Hendrick Brandtsoen, Alex de Vrede, Karel Sirag, and Hans van der Kroef. 1982 saw the publication of a booklet entitled "Theo Voorzaat, Schilderijen", a Lieve Hemel publication like all other productions (see the section entitled "Artists of the Gallery / Theo Voorzaat"). This was followed in 1983 by the compilation "Kleine Lettertjes, Grote Bek" (Small Print, Big Mouth), an anthology of 35 of Koen Nieuwendijk's traditional succinct notes as printed on the invitations to new exhibitions. These texts too will shortly be added to the website. 1984 The big event of the year was the six-week trip through the United States undertaken by the two gallery owners, Koen and Yvonne Nieuwendijk. Exhibitions in several cities ensued: in New York (Vorpal Galleries, Arras Galleries), in San Francisco (Walton Gilbert Galleries) and in Holland, Michigan (Hope College, a co-sponsor of the 1985 publication of an extensive catalogue entitled "The Refined Image"). The fruitful collaboration with the Alexander F. Milliken Gallery in New York City from 1986 to 1990 culminated in successful exhibitions by Anneke van Brussel and Hendrick Brandtsoen, among others. And although on looking back I have to admit that the "American years" were a period of some innocence, they nevertheless yielded a wealth of experience and insight. 1987 saw the publication of a robust book entitled "Hans Kanters, Paintings". Some months later the association between the gallery and the artist came to an abrupt end. >From 1982 onwards the building had been undergoing a series of internal renovations aimed at extending the floor space. This process lasted until 1992, when the entire house had been made available to be deployed for gallery activities, right up to the eaves (a photographic studio had been built in the attic). In 1989 the Gallery's smallest paintings, Karel Sirag's miniatures, were highlighted with the publication of "De Wereld in de War" (The World in Confusion), a book which was published under the Thomas Rap banner. The still life has always assumed a prominent place in the Gallery's collection, and in order to accentuate its significance, the two gallery owners compiled an exhibition under the arresting title "Zichtbare Stilte" (Visible Silence) comprising a selection of works by Ben Snijders, Olav Cleofas van Overbeek, Hendrick Brandtsoen, Anneke van Brussel, Alex de Vrede, René Mikovic and Freddy van Cotthem, which was on view in Slot Zeist (1990) and the Drents Museum in Assen (1991). On 18 April 1991 daughter Hannah was born - in between jobs, so to speak. Having witnessed the set-up and opening of the exhibition in Zeist in the womb, she slept right through the hubbub when the show moved to Assen. Ceramics had meanwhile gradually been phased out of the collection in favour of bronzes. The period from 1991 to 1995 saw regular exhibitions of bronze sculptures under the motto "Beeldschone Bronzen" (Beautiful Bronzes), with work by Els van Westerloo (who had previously made a name for herself as a ceramic artist), Margot Homan, Willem Lenssinck and Nicolas van Ronkenstein. Bronzes have since come into their own in the Netherlands, with the emergence of large regional galleries with generously proportioned sculpture gardens and parks. Prompted not only by a lack of space but, more importantly, by an exclusivity drive, the Gallery shifted its focus to other forms of art such as the silver objects by Goudji, the initial contact with whom was established in 1996. Many a distinguished Dutch personality has opened one or more exhibitions at Galerie Lieve Hemel over the years, such as Ramses Shaffy, Berend Boudewijn, Simon Vinkenoog, Henk Hofland, Freek de Jonge, Jos Brink, Henk van Ulsen, Drs. P., Karina Holla and Dorien and Gerrie van der Klei, both jointly (as "the Sissies") and individually. The participation in the 1977 Dutch Art Fair was followed up on by a spate of art fairs and special events: Utrecht, Jaarbeurs: 1981, 1982, 1983 Arnhem, in collaboration with Kunstgalerij Albricht: Oud en Nieuw, 1981/1982 The Hague: Oud 's-Gravenhaege, 1982 Basle: Art '82 and '83 Amsterdam, New Church: 1984, 1985 Amsterdam, Beurs van Berlage (The Old Commodity Exchange): 1986, 1987 Athens, Zappeion Hall, Contemporary Dutch Realism 1986 (exhibition to accompany the Dutch trading mission headed by Frits Bolkestein) Amsterdam, PAN Art and Antiques Fair: 1989-1999 Frankfurt Book Fair, 1987 (lithographs) Residence Interiors Fair, 1992-1993 Maastricht, TEFAF: 1989-1994 Tokyo: Graphic Art Fair, 1989 and Tokyo Art Expo, 1990 Rosmalen: AFA, 1997 Amsterdam, KunstRai, 1994-1999 's-Hertogenbosch: 33rd Dutch Art and Antiques Fair, 1999. The die was cast after Tokyo: as wonderful as all that travelling had been and as much experience and insight as it had yielded, the globe-trotting existence was wearing a bit thin on the home front. The two gallery owners decided that this would from now on be their top priority, so that the cream of the crop in art works - of which quite a few had disappeared to New York in the past - would once more be on show at the Gallery and on the PAN and TEFAF art fairs. There was a further reason why this decision made sense: the birth, on 5 March 1994, of a second daughter, Roosje. TEFAF's policy changed after 1994, with contemporary art - which until then had considerably brightened up all those solemn-looking antiques - all but banished in favour of modern-classical works. Insult was added to injury by the boorish attitude which the Municipality of Amsterdam had displayed for decades, and continues to display, towards visitors to the city. Add to this the threat of the underground (a subway station had been planned right in front of the Gallery's entrance; to this end a 40-metre deep crater would be dug in which work would be carried out for the next eight years) and the only question to be resolved was: where do we go from here? Two scenarios presented themselves: head out into the countryside, or move back into the inner city. In June 1996 the latter option was chosen, and on 2 November of that year Galerie Lieve Hemel reopened on Nieuwe Spiegelstraat number 3. Finally, after 400 years, Spiegelstraat had been completed, with the Rijksmuseum on one end and Galerie Lieve Hemel on the other. One of the first exhibitions at the new location was that of the work of a very exciting new recruit, silversmith Goudji. Although it is impossible to find the words to describe how, his work lends an extra touch to the select group of 15 exhibitors picked and chosen on the basis of personal preference from the pool of the hundred or to artists whose work had been featured in previous years. 1997 was a year of overwhelming sadness, with elder daughter Hannah succumbing to the effects of leukaemia on 2 September. The work of Livio de Marchi was very much in the spotlight in the period from 1996 to 1999. The Internet increasingly evolved into a prominent new communication medium. On 2 June 1998 Hans Duijf, of Pasta e Basta, opened the Gallery's website with a speech and a toast. In a decidedly future-oriented vein and to mark the occasion of the Gallery's 30th anniversary, on 2 December 1998, an exclusively virtual exhibition was compiled of works of art which had disappeared from sight or which for purely physical reasons could not be put on display at the gallery (such as Goudji's altar at Chartres Cathedral), which will remain on show forever on the website. Amazingly given its brief history, the Internet has become a firm fixture of life as we know it … Things are also happening in between jobs, behind the scenes. "De Vette Kluif" (The Sweet Deal), a sort of out-of-control footnote, is about to be bolted on to this potted history, containing an ex tempore and, of course, subjective report of events which although hardly noticeable to outsiders are nevertheless having a dramatic impact on the fundamental dimension of art. |