René Daniëls

Between 1977 and 1987, the year in which he suffered a stroke, René Daniëls, created one of the most intriguing oeuvres in the postwar art of the Netherlands. His work is both humorous and enigmatic. Daniëls considers himself a kindred spirit of Duchamp, Picabia and Broodthaers, artists who pursued not so much the development of a style but the chance to take different routes time and again. He once referred to his field of activity as ‘the former no man’s land between literature, visual art and life.’ Het Glazen (The Glazed) shows a tall building, whose interior is lit in the twilight. The windows have been left open on a watery blue surface which covers the rest of the canvas. Due to a slight distortion of the perspective, the upper windows seem to become detached from the façade and flock like butterflies into an indefinable space. Daniëls’s ingenious response to pictorial problems concerning perspective and representation is crystal clear and breathtaking at the same time.