DANUBIANA Meulensteen Art Museum
17 June - 2 September, 2007




Lucebert (1924-1994) perceived artistic creation as a “children's playground” – a space for unrestrained, never-ending playing filled with joy and pure fantasy. At the same time, however, he was aware of human impotence and vulnerability, of man's constant struggle against everyday reality. He achieved considerable success in painting and poetry.

Poetry enabled him to begin his cooperation with the Cobra, an experimental group of young painters and poets. His poems were published in the group's journal, Reflex, and later in the Cobra revue. As a poet, he participated in the exhibition of the Cobra members in Amsterdam in 1949. The dual character of his talent was manifested in his collections of poetry which included his drawings and prints, such as Lithologia , 1959. A wonderful example of such a linkage is Vom peniblen Luftikus , a collection of poems including his paintings and drawings, published posthumously in 1994. He published one collection of poetry annually. Although his early period was largely associated with poetry and photography, he was getting involved in artistic activities as well. His early work was influenced by Picasso and Miró, but gradually, his idiom developed close links with the style of the Cobra artists.

Due to the Expressionist nature of Lucebert's painting, it is considered its continuation. The human figure occupies the central position in his art. He employs rustic forms in his painting, exploiting the spontaneity of children's drawing and expressively deformed shapes. The monumental character of shapes is accentuated by a thick dark outline distinctive of the Cobra painters. Lucebert's photography is largely associated with his early period. It was particularly connected with his travels to Bulgaria, Spain and Italy. Although he was essentially a lyricist, in his career as a photographer he captured the reality of the life of ordinary people without romantic embellishment. He alone accurately called himself “a romantic-idealistic photographer of a somewhat idealised world”.

Lucebert's proper name is Lubertus Jacobus Swaanswijk. He excelled as a poet, and was involved in painting, drawing, graphic art, wall painting and ceramics. He entered the Institute for Arts and Crafts in 1938, and studied there for six months. At that time he was writing poetry and meeting the young literati. An important moment in his life came when he made friends with Karel Appel, and the poets Gerrit Kouwenaar and Jan G. Elburg. He became a member of the Dutch Experimental Group founded in 1947 by Karel Appel, Corneille and Constant and subsequently of the Cobra group. His first collection of poems, Triangel in de jungle (Triangle in the Jungle) was published in 1951.

He began to paint, but gained considerable publicity and fame as a poet. In 1954 Bertold Brecht invited him to East Berlin, but he did not like the communist environment, so he left for Bulgaria where he made a series of photographs. His first solo exhibition was shown in Haarlem in 1958, and a year later he had another exhibition at the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam and Schiedam, which launched his career as a painter. His artistic work began to achieve success in a broader context. In 1959 he was awarded a prize at the 1 st Biennale of Young Artists in Paris and participated in Documenta II in Kassel. In 1962 he received the Premio Marzotto in Milan (with G. Hoehme), in 1964 he received the Dutch Prize for Literature, and in 1990 he won the Jacobus van Looy Prize. Lucebert's poetry was translated into more than ten languages, including English, German, French, Spanish and Polish.

Lucebert showed his paintings at a number of exhibitions at home and abroad: the City Art Gallery, Bochum, 1963; the State Kunsthalle Baden-Baden 1964; the Marlborough Fine Art Gallery, London, 1966; the Sala de Arte, Medelin, Colombia, 1981; the Kunsthalle Kiel, Museum Bochum, 1989; SMAK Gent, 1997; the Centre Julio Gonzáles, Valencia, 2000; the Fundacíon Antonio Pérez Cuenca, 2001; the Kunsthalle Brehmen, 2003, and many others.

Eva Trojanová

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DANUBIANA Meulensteen Art Museum
P.O.Box 9
810 00 Bratislava - Čuňovo
Slovakia
TEL : +421 2 62 52 85 01
danubiana@danubiana.sk
www.danubiana.sk