FEATURES ARCHIVE

Peter:
A work that really captures the attention is photographer Frank van der Salm’s image of the famous Central Public Library in Seattle (lot 425). It’s very intriguing and also interesting because it was commissioned by architect Rem Koolhaas’ OMA, who designed the building which brought him international acclaim. It comes from a private collection of mainly Dutch contemporary art including photographs, paintings and prints. From the same collection I very much like Rob Johannesma’s photograph of a landscape (lot 432). It shows a snow-covered mountain with trees, but is in fact a very small construction of salt with a few tiny sticks. So you are actually looking at an artificially constructed landscape. Johannesma completely puts you on the wrong track and plays with reality.

Odette:
Something similar happens in one of my personal favourites by Herman Berserik, view from a bathroom window  (lot 240). It suggests looking through a window in a wooden wall, but the effect was caused by using a painted ‘frame’ in a very thick impasto paint. Berserik loved putting jokes in his work. Talking about optical illusions, I never get tired of looking at M.C. Escher. It’s easy to understand why his works are very sought after by collectors all over the world. It’s endlessly fascinating and satisfying to unravel or contemplate the different parts of each image (lots 215, 216, 218, 220)

Peter:
Hearing this makes me think about the photographs of Gerco de Ruijter (lots 403, 406, 408, 434). He attaches a kite or helium balloon to his camera and makes semi-random images which he then manipulates later; for example straightening ditches or arranging trees to provide a new geometry or harmony. Familiar landscapes become abstract, reduced to mere planes and lines. The result always makes you wonder exactly what you are looking at but it’s always the beauty of nature seen from an unnatural or unusual perspective.