Installation view of the exhibition Jan Schoonhoven, at David Zwirner in New York, dated 2015.
Installation view of the exhibition Jan Schoonhoven, at David Zwirner in New York, dated 2015.

Jan Schoonhoven

David Zwirner is pleased to present an exhibition of works by Jan Schoonhoven (1914–1994) at the gallery's 537 West 20th Street location. The show will feature an extensive group of the artist's sculptural wall reliefs and works on paper from the late 1950s to the mid-1970s in what will be the first significant presentation of the artist's work in America in over a decade.

Regarded as one of the most important Dutch artists of the late twentieth century, Schoonhoven is recognized for his innovative and systematic investigations into light, form, and volume. Despite spending the majority of his life in Delft, the Netherlands, where he worked from 1946 to 1979 as a civil servant for the Dutch Postal Service, Schoonhoven rose to artistic prominence as an active and influential member of the international avant garde. Beginning in the 1950s, he played a central role in the Nederlandse Informele Groep (Netherlandish Informal Group) and the Nul-groep (Nul Group)–which were affiliated with the European Informel movement and the ZERO Group respectively. Rejecting illusionism and subjective expression, these artists shared a collective interest in exploring the essential, objective forms and properties of art. Schoonhoven in particular developed a highly unique body of work that centered on a sustained investigation of serial abstraction, the monochrome, and the grid. In their carefully structured yet sensitively rendered forms, the artist's works have been fittingly described as "cool, strictly ordered, [and] well considered… but also familiar, humane, and intimate."

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For more information about available works contact inquiries@davidzwirner.com

Dates
January 9February 14, 2015
Artist
Installation view of the exhibition Jan Schoonhoven, at David Zwirner in New York, dated 2015.

In the work of Dutch artist Jan Schoonhoven, wrote The New York Times art critic Roberta Smith in 1999, “clarity and purity reign.” Born in Delft in 1914 and regarded as one of the most important Dutch artists of the twentieth century despite being r...

Artist:

Born in Delft in 1914 and regarded as one of the most important Dutch artists of the twentieth century despite being relatively unknown in the United States, Schoonhoven was an active and influential player in the course of major European postwar developments in art, particularly related to monochromatic, serialized abstraction.

An archival photograph of an untitled work by Jan Schoonhoven, dated 1958, as seen at the Hippolytusbuurt post office in Delft, the Netherlands, in 1958

Untitled, 1958
Cardboard, industrial paint, and lacquer on panel
45 1/4 x 104 5/16 inches (115 x 265 cm)
Installation view, the Hippolytusbuurt post office in Delft, the Netherlands, 1958 Collection KPN, The Hague, the Netherlands   
A painting by Jan Schoonhoven titled R60-21, dated 1960.

R60-21, 1960
Latex paint, papier-mâché, cardboard, and wood
19 3/4 x 25 1/2 x 4 1/2 inches (50.2 x 64.8 x 11.4 cm)
A painting by Jan Schoonhoven titled Motel, dated 1956.

Motel, 1956
Latex paint, papier-mâché, cardboard, and wood
24 1/4 x 16 3/8 x 2 1/4 inches (61.6 x 41.6 x 5.7 cm) Framed: 36 1/8 x 27 7/8 x 4 inches (91.8 x 70.8 x 10.2 cm)
An archival photograph of Yayoi Kusama and Jan Schoonhoven at the opening of the Modern Art Fair Balans, Stedelijk Museum Schiedam, the Netherlands, dated 1967.

Yayoi Kusama with Jan Schoonhoven (right), at the opening of the Modern Art Fair Balans, Stedelijk Museum Schiedam, the Netherlands, 1967
Photo: A. den Haan, Rotterdam, the Netherlands
Installation view of the exhibition Jan Schoonhoven, at David Zwirner in New York, dated 2015.
Installation view of the exhibition Jan Schoonhoven, at David Zwirner in New York, dated 2015.
Installation view of the exhibition Jan Schoonhoven, at David Zwirner in New York, dated 2015.
Installation view of the exhibition Jan Schoonhoven, at David Zwirner in New York, dated 2015.
Installation view of the exhibition Jan Schoonhoven, at David Zwirner in New York, dated 2015.
Installation view of the exhibition Jan Schoonhoven, at David Zwirner in New York, dated 2015.
Installation view of the exhibition Jan Schoonhoven, at David Zwirner in New York, dated 2015.
Installation view of the exhibition Jan Schoonhoven, at David Zwirner in New York, dated 2015.
Installation view of the exhibition Jan Schoonhoven, at David Zwirner in New York, dated 2015.
Installation view of the exhibition Jan Schoonhoven, at David Zwirner in New York, dated 2015.

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