Lucebert - Galerie Moderne Silkeborg 2021

Lucebert

A Cobra Artist

Galerie Moderne Silkeborg  2021

O

Lucebert 1924‑1994 A Cobra Artist

Galerie Moderne Silkeborg  2021

Lucebert in his studio, 1977 Photography: Pieter Boersma ©

LUCEBERT 1924‑1994 The credo of the Cobra art movement, which emerged after the end of World War II, has been described fittingly

by Julien Michel Leiris. Michel Leiris was one of France’s great writers and a friend of Francis Bacon, Giacometti, and Picasso, of whom he said: The human being in Picasso’s art is the man of today from a bleeding reality in a ragged age, and a reality that befits a ragged painting.

The Cobra artist Lucebert works with a ragged reality, as did many of his friends in the movement, which is now part of history. Cobra arose as a reaction to World War II and to a Europe that had been torn to pieces. Lucebert contributed many of the expressions that make the Cobra group still so vibrant and nuanced today.

The historical significance of the Cobra movement is now growing increasingly clear and distinct. It presents us with a number of artists who have gained status and in‑ fluence, much as was the case with other great histori­cal movements: Golden Age artists, Impressionists, Expres‑ sionists, Surrealists, and more recently the figures of Pop Art. I have followed my father, Willy Omme, in his practice of always displaying Cobra artists alongside contemporary artists. This practice has made our gallery into a leading exhibition space for viewing and acquiring art from the Co‑ bra movement. Lucebert’s first exhibition in Scandinavia was displayed in our gallery in 1969. With the help of Luce‑ bert’s family, I have succeeded in collecting 13 important paintings, never before shown outside the Netherlands, from one of the Cobra movement’s distinctive artists.

I look forward to sharing this experience with you.

Cobrakunstens credo efter afslutningen af Anden Verden‑ skrig bliver dæk­kende beskrevet af Michel Leiris. Han var en af Frankrigs store forfattere, ven med bl.a. Francis Bacon, Giacometti og Picasso og siger om denne sidste: Mennesket i Picassos kunst er det nutidige menneske fra en blødende virkelighed i en forreven epoke og virkelighed, som passer til et forrevent maleri.

Cobrakunstneren Lucebert arbejder med en forreven virkelighed, og det gjorde mange af hans venner fra den nu historiske Cobra-bevægelse. Den opstod som en reaktion efter Anden Verdenskrig, og Europa var revet i stumper og stykker. Lucebert bidrog i Cobra bevægelsen med nogle af de mange udtryk, som gør gruppen så lev‑ ende og nuanceret.

Cobra bevægelsen har haft en historisk betydning, som stadig bliver mere klar og tydelig. Vi står overfor en række kunstnere, som har fået status og fylde ligesom andre store historiske bevægelser som Guldaldertidens kunstnere, impressionisterne, expressionisterne, surre‑ alisterne og i nyere tid popkunstnerne.

Jeg har fulgt min far, Willy Ommes linie i galleriet med at vise cobra­kunstnere hele tiden sideløbende med nu‑ tidige kunstnere. Det har gjort vores galleri til at være et førende udstillingssted for at kunne se og erhverve kunst fra Cobra bevægelsen. Luceberts første udstilling i Skandi‑ navien blev vist i vores galleri i 1969. Det er lykkedes mig med hjælp fra Luceberts familie at samle 13 væsentlige malerier, aldrig vist før udenfor Holland, fra en af Cobra bevægelsens særprægede kunstnere.

Jeg glæder mig til at dele oplevelsen med jer.

Henrik Omme

Henrik Omme

I dette maleri er der netop tale om det forrevne menneske. Malemåden følger billedets kaotiske indhold. En horisontlinie er i ethvert maleri en samling og oplysning om op og ned. Den findes ikke her, og hvis man leder efter en samtale mellem maleriets tre personer, så vil man ikke finde hverken spørgsmål eller svar!

This painting is precisely about the ragged human being. The mode of painting matches the image’s chaotic content. In every painting, a horizon line is a gathering-place, indicating what is up and what is down. Such a line does not exist here – and if you are searching for a conversation among the three people in the painting, you will find neither questions nor answers!

Lucebert El Tanquillo, 1980 Oil on canvas 81 x 101 cm

Far og søn. Før og nu. Frem og tilbage. Lys og skygge. Landsmanden Vincent van Goghs sol i baggrunden og en af Bibelens store temaer: Abrahams ofring af sønnen Isak.

Father and son. Then and now. Back and forth. Light and shadow. In the background, the sun of the artist’s countryman Vincent van Gogh, and one of the great themes of the Bible: Abraham’s sacrifice of his son Isaac.

Lucebert Vader en zoon, 1993 Oil on canvas 100 x 80 cm

Et urskrig som uglens skrig om natten.

A primal scream – like the screech of an owl at night.

Lucebert Paolo, 1994 Oil on canvas 90 x 70 cm

Lucebert har stjålet som alle begavede kunstnere med arme og ben. Kunsthistorien er fyldt op med disse kær‑ lighedserklæringer til andre kunstnere, som mere eller mindre skjult gemmer sig i hver generations inspiration fra sin forrige kollega til den næste. Her gemmer sig Jean Dubuffet og hans selvportræt. En stor kunstner, som en anden Cobra maler, Asger Jorn, værdsatte højt.

Like all talented artists, Lucebert stole boldly from others. The history of art is filled with such declarations of love for other artists, concealing themselves more or less secretly in how each generation is inspired by its former colleague – and passes on inspiration to the next. Here Jean Dubuffet is hiding with his self-portrait: a great artist whom Asger Jorn, another Cobra painter, valued highly.

Lucebert Old wizzard, 1988 Oil on canvas 92 x 73 cm

Hele Cobra bevægelsens kunstnere så på hinanden som folk der er haveelskere og går rundt nysgerrigt og ser på andre havefolks resultater med blomster og grøntsager. Her gemmer een af Cobramalernes mest originale malere sig. Henry Heerup. Et lyn. Et kunstværk skal være lynet og ikke tordenskraldet.

All the artists of the Cobra movement regarded one another like garden-lovers walking around with curios‑ ity, examining what their fellow gardeners have achieved with their flowers and vegetables. Here is hiding one of the most original of the Cobra painters: Henry Heerup. A bolt of lightning. A work of art should be the lightning-bolt, not the thunderclap.

Lucebert Hete bliksem, 1991 Oil on canvas 90 x 70 cm

Over hals og hoved. Luceberts vision af hvordan Kong Minos’ hustru Parsifaë på øen Kreta blev overfaldet af en tyr. Ud af denne kærlighed fødtes udyret, Minotaurus.

Helter-skelter. Lucebert’s vision of how Parsiphaë, wife of King Minos on the island of Crete, was attacked by a bull. Out of that love was born the monster, the Minotaur.

Lucebert De gevleugelde herder, 1993 Oil on canvas 100 x 80 cm

I nattens mulm og mørke mødes mennesker og visioner, som kan føre os alle steder hen. Lucebert har en overbevisende kraft til at tage os med ind i livets komplicerede hurlumhejhus.

In the gloom and darkness of the night, people and visions meet. That can lead us anywhere. Lucebert has a compelling ability to take us with him into the complex funhouse of life.

Lucebert No title, 1993 Oil on canvas 90 x 70 cm

Dette maleris lysende kraft og enkelhed i linien og formen bringer ens tanker ind i glasmaleriets univers. Farverne er gennemlyste og med himmelens blå som baggrund, står vi foran en sjælden engel.

The luminous power and simplicity of this painting, in line and shape, transport one’s thoughts into the uni‑ verse of stained glass. The colors are translucent, and we find ourselves standing – with the blue of the sky as a background – in front of a rare angel.

Lucebert Nergal, 1993 Oil on canvas 145 x 115 cm

I vores tilværelse er vi konstant udsat for møder. På godt og ondt. Det er ikke altid vi finder nye bekendtskaber eller tilnærmelser behagelige. Skal de nu også være det? Når een rækker hånden frem til et nyt møde.

In our existence we are constantly exposed to new encounters. For better or for worse. We do not always find new acquaintances or approaches pleasant. Should they be so? When one reaches out one’s hand for a new encounter.

Lucebert Fun, 1992 Oil on canvas 100 x 75 cm

Egill Jacobsens maskebilleder var så nordiske i deres farvesammensætnings lyrik og humor. Her tager Lucebert sin hollandske maske på fra Amsterdam, et land som også havde handelsforbindelser til Østen og Sydamerika.

Egill Jacobsen’s mask images were so typically Nordic in the lyricism and humor of their color composition.

Here Lucebert wears his Dutch mask from Amsterdam, reflecting the Netherlands’ trade connections to the East and to South America.

Lucebert No title, undated Oil on canvas 90 x 70 cm

Lucebert skildrer tilværelsen som en parkeringsplads, et venteværelse.

Lucebert portrays existence as a parking lot, a waiting room.

Lucebert De loutering, 1992 Oil on canvas 200 x 150 cm

Århundredeskiftets (1900) kendteste og mest ikoniske maleri var Edvard Munchs Skriget. En ny fødsel i smerte ind til livet, fra mørket til lyset. LUX. The most famous and iconic painting of the turn of the (twentieth) century was Edvard Munch’s The Scream.

A new painful birth into life, from darkness to light. LUX.

Lucebert Lux, 1991 Oil on canvas 90 x 70 cm

Et gådefuldt maleri om fødsel og død. Paul Gauguin malede: Hvorfra kommer vi, hvem er vi og hvor går vi hen?

Lucebert stiller det samme spørgsmål.

An enigmatic painting about birth and death. Paul Gauguin painted: Where do we come from, who are we and where are we going? Lucebert asks the same question.

Lucebert Santa Maria, 1992 Oil on canvas 115 x 145 cm

A SHORT BIOGRAPHY Lucebert was born in Amsterdam in 1924 as Lubertus Jacobus Swaanswijk. As a teenager, his emerging talent for drawing had already attracted notice. In 1948, Lucebert met the writer Gerrit Kouwenaar, who introduced him to the Dutch literary society “Experimentele Groep”. In 1954, he was honoured with the Poetry Prize of the city of Amsterdam. A year later, Lucebert was invited by Bertolt Brecht to come to East Berlin, where he accepted a grant at the Academy of Fine Arts. In 1958, Lucebert held his first one man show at the Galerie Espace in Haarlem. Since then, Lucebert’s works have experienced widespread international interest, and have made their way into leading museums and private collections as well as participating in the Documenta in Kassel and the Paris and Venice Biennale. His poetry has been translated and published into many languages, from Hungarian to Spanish and Chinese. He received the most prestigious awards in Holland for his poetry as well as for his visual arts. The open nature of Lucebert’s work, including paintings and drawings as well as ceramics and photography, appeal to an extensive audi‑ ence. Important films about Lucebert have been made by Johan van der Keuken. During his life, interesting artistic co-operations were realized with Antonio Saura and Cees Nooteboom, among others. Following Lucebert’s death in 1994, many publications and exhibitions followed. In 2001, a monograph on his paintings was written and compiled by Prof. Dr. Jens Christian Jensen, and recently a biography by Peter Hofman on Lucebert’s early years was published by the editorial De Bezige Bij in Amsterdam.

In Holland, Lucebert’s work is represented by The Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, The Cobra Museum Amstelveen, and The Stedelijk Museum Schiedam, amongst others. The IVAM in Valencia in Spain acquired a donation of a selection of Lucebert’s works on paper and ceramics, and The Kunsthalle in Bremen in Germany acquired a nearly complete collection of his graphic works. A permanent exhibition of his visual work can be seen at the Fundación Antonio Pérez in Cuenca, Spain. Apart from the publication of several books and catalogues annually, interest in investigating the results of his extended talents is still very lively. In 2012, the German curator Petra Lanfermann wrote a dissertation on Lucebert’s paintings and works on paper. A translation into English of Lucebert’s complete poetic oeuvre by Anglicist and poet Diane Butterman will form the basis of a Ph.D. study on Lucebert’s poetry. The first two volumes of this translation have already been published in the United States, in 2013 and 2017. In 2018, Wim Hazeu completed a biography on Lucebert’s life and work.

Choice of works in collections: Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, Holland / Museum Boymans van Beuningen Rotterdam, Holland / Nederlands Fotomuseum Rot‑ terdam, Rotterdam, Holland / Stedelijk Museum Schiedam, Holland / Stedelijk van Abbemuseum Eindhoven, Holland / Haags Gemeentemuseum, The Hague, Holland / Fotomuseum Den Haag, The Hague, Holland / Literatuurmuseum Den Haag, The Hague, Holland / Hannema de Steurs Foundation, Heino, Holland / Stedelijk Museum Alkmaar, Holland / Frans Hals Museum Haarlem, Holland / S.M.A.K. Museum of Contemporary Art, Gand, Belgium / Museum of Modern Art, Antwerp, Belgium / Kunst­

museum Winterthur, Switzerland / Städtische Kunsthalle Mannheim, Germany / Kunsthalle Hamburg, Germany / Kunsthalle zu Kiel, Germany / Museum Bochum, Germany / Kunstmuseum Munchen, Germany / Kunsthalle Bremen, Germany / National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin, Ireland / Acentmetresducentredumonde, Centre D’Art Contemporain, Perpignan, France/ Museum of Modern art New York, U.S.A. / Museum of Art Fort Lauderdale, Florida, U.S.A. / Guggenheim Foundation New York, U.S.A. / Museo de Bellas Artes, Mexico City, Mexico / Louisiana Humlebaek, Denmark / Museum Turku, Helsinki, Finland / Tate Gallery, London, England / IVAM, Centro Julio Conzález, Valencia, Spain /Fundación ARCO, Madrid, Spain / Museo de obra gráfica San Clemente, San Clemente, Spain / Fundación Antonio Pérez, Cuenca, Spain / Moderna Museet, Stockholm, Sweden / Danubiana Meulensteen Art Museum, Bratislava, Slovakia.

A selection of solo exhibitions after his death in 1994: 1994 Neue Bilder und Arbeiten auf Papier, Galerie Springer, Berlin, Germany.

Galerie Espace, Amsterdam, Holland. Galerie Fossati, Kilchberg, Switzerland. Keramische Skulpture und Gefäsze, Droysen Keramik galerie, Berlin.

1995 Peintures 1984‑1994, Galerie La cité, Luxembourg.

34 plein jours en la compagnie de Lucebert, Richard Meyer, Metz / Galerie Krief, Paris, France, Lucebert 1924‑1994 Galerie Lillebonne/Galerie Ray‑ mond Banas, Metz/Nancy, France.

1996 Galerie Carinthia, Klagenfurt, Austria. Lucebertiana from the collection C.A. Groenendijk, Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, Holland. De Zonnenhof Museum, Amersfoort, Holland. 100 drawings from the collection of F. van Lanschot, Noordbrabants Museum, Den Bosch, Holland.

1997 Galería Italia, Alicante, Spain. Kunstverein Augsburg, Germany.

1998 Lucebert 1924‑1994, Galerie Fischlin, Nyon, France. Drawings from the col‑ lection F. van Lanschot Bankiers, Hannema-de Steurs Foundation, Heino, Holland. Gallery Cachet, Vienna, Austria.

1999 Drawings from the collection F. van Lanschot Bankiers, Bonnefanten‑ museum, Maastricht, Holland Galerie Nouvelles Images, (portfolio with photographs by Lucebert and essays by Cees Nooteboom) The Hague, Holland.

2000 La Tiranía de la Libertad, I.V.A.M., Centro Julio González, Valencia, Spain.

2001 La Fundación de Bancaja, Alicante, Spain. Lucebert, Bilder, Gouachen, Zeichnungen, Galerie Fossati, Kilchberg, Switzerland. Inauguración Sala Lucebert, Fundación Antonio Pérez, Cuenca, Spain.

2002 Lucebert Painter-Poet, Cobramuseum for Modern Art, Amstelveen, Holland. S.M.A.K. Museum for Contemporary Art, Gand, Belgium. Lucebert Collection Remo and Joke Fossati, Markgrafter Museum Müllheim, Müll‑ heim, Germany.

2003 That is an eye this is an ear trembles and art appears, De Beyerd, Mu‑ seum for Contemporary Art, (cd-rom with poetry read by Lucebert), Breda, Holland. “schöne dämonen” Lindenau-Museum, Altenburg + Kunsthalle Bremen, Germany.

2005 Galerie Moderne, Silkeborg, Denmark. Die Galerie, Frankfurt, Germany.

Galería Rosalía Sender, Valencia, Spain.

2006 Lucebert en El palacio de la Aljafería de las Cortes de Aragón, Zaragoza, Spain.

2007 Lucebert; painter, poet, photografer, Stedelijk Museum Schiedam, Schiedam, Holland. This exhibition travelled to the Danubiana Museum, Bratislava, Slovakia. Lucebert en sus tintas, Sala de exposiciones Bilbao Bizkaia Kutxa, Bilbao, Spain.

2008 Donation Lucebert, Cultural Heritage of the Government, Museum Hen‑ riette Polak, Zutphen, Holland.

2011 Lucebert, schilderijen, keramiek, werken op papier, Galerie van Duyse, Antwerp, Belgium. De Schreeuw uit het harnas, Keramiek Museum Princes‑ sehof, Leeuwarden, Holland.

2012 Open cages of art, Cobramuseum for Modern art, Amstelveen, Holland. On the plane section of art and avant-garde, City hall, Heemskerk, Holland.

2013 Lucebert & Cobra, Galerie Schoots en van Duyse, Antwerp, Belgium.

Lucebert at home in Bergen, Museum Kranenburgh, (concept Johan Kra‑ mer) Bergen, Holland.

2015 Lucebert, Gallery Laurentin, Brussels, Belgium.

2018 Lucebert, Nouvelles Images Gallery, The Hague, Holland.

2019 Lucebert in Jávea, City Hall, (in collaboration with IVAM, Valencia) Jávea, Spain.

LUC E B E RT 1 9 2 4 ‑ 1 9 94

LU CEBERT 1924‑1994

This catalogue accompanies the first exhibition of the year 2021 Layout by Galerie Moderne Silkeborg in collaboration with Narayana Press, Gyllingnæs Photography by Ralf Søndergaard Translation from Danish by David Possen Printed on Arctic Volume White at Narayana Press in January 2021 Copyright © 2021 Galerie Moderne Silkeborg ISBN.: 978‑87‑90618‑07‑0

Dette katalog følger årets første udstilling 2021 Layout af Galerie Moderne Silkeborg i samarbejde med Narayana Press, Gyllingnæs Fotografi: Ralf Søndergaard Trykt på Arctic Volume White på Narayana Press i januar 2021 Copyright © 2021 Galerie Moderne Silkeborg ISBN.: 978‑87‑90618‑07‑0

The exhibition is open from January 23rd to March 6th, 2021

Udstillingen åbner 23. januar indtil 6. marts, 2021

www.galeriemoderne.dk Info@galeriemoderne.dk Tel +45 86 81 44 44 Hostrupsgade 39 – 8600 Silkeborg

www.galeriemoderne.dk Info@galeriemoderne.dk Tel +45 86 81 44 44 Hostrupsgade 39 – 8600 Silkeborg

Next exhibition will be Påskeudstillingen March 20 th to May 15th 2021

Næste udstilling bliver Påskeudstillingen Fra 20. marts til 15. maj 2021

A COBRA ARTIST

Cover/omslag: Lucebert Fun, detail, 1992 Oil on canvas, 100 × 75 cm

EN COBRA KUNSTNER

GALERIE MODERNE SILKEBORG